GRILLED SHRIMP WITH CHICKPEA FRIES, ZUCCHINI & PINE NUT SALAD

Grilled Shrimp with Chickpea Fries, Zucchini & Pine Nut Salad image

Categories Salad Nut Side Fry Pine Nut Shrimp Chickpea Zucchini Chill Raw Boil

Yield serves: 4

Number Of Ingredients 16

Ingredients

for the chickpea fries
Kosher salt
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup canned or cooked chickpeas, crushed
Extra virgin olive oil
for the salad
8 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (I prefer the ones with the head on)
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 zucchini, green part only, julienned
1/2 red onion, sliced super-thin
2 cups baby arugula
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted (see page 17)
Juice of 2 lemons

Steps:

FOR THE CHICKPEA FRIES
Put 2 cups water in a small saucepan, salt well, and bring to a boil (BTB) over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, whisk in the chickpea flour, and cook over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken. Toss in the cumin, cayenne, and crushed chickpeas. When it's done, the mixture will be thick like mashed potatoes, about 15 minutes. Taste it-it should be REALLY good; if it isn't, reseason.
Spread the mixture out in a lightly oiled 9-inch baking dish and chill until fully set, at least an hour (this can be done in advance).
Cut the chilled mix into thick sticks, 3/4 to 1 inch wide. Coat a nonstick sauté pan with olive oil and bring to high heat. While the oil heats, set up your drying situation next to the stove by putting a couple layers of paper towels on a baking sheet. Working in batches, cook the fries on all sides until golden and crispy, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove and drain on the paper towels, sprinkle with salt, and keep warm in a low oven.
FOR THE SALAD
Preheat a grill.
In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp with olive oil to coat and season with salt.
Put the zucchini, onion, arugula, and pine nuts in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and make sure it tastes delicious!
Grill the shrimp, turning once, until no longer translucent, 4 to 6 minutes total.
Arrange the salad on serving plates and top each with a couple of chickpea fries and 2 shrimp.
note
When you go to a fish store you might see numbers next to the shrimp. These numbers correlate to how many shrimp are in a pound (for example, 12/15 means there are between twelve and fifteen shrimp in a pound). The bigger the number, the more shrimp per pound; the smaller the number, the bigger the shrimp! For this recipe I recommend really big shrimp.
ANNE ALTERNATE
These chickpea fries are also really good with aïoli-check out the recipe on page 82 for a Q&E (quick and easy) dipper for these lovelies!