shrimp with an Indian twist

I was in the mood for something a little different last night, so I settled on a little riff on a Bobby Flay recipe I saw for flatbreads served with a chickpea puree and a cilantro pesto.  It featured a lot of Indian flavors -- cilantro, tahini, chick peas, garlic, and lime -- but it certainly wasn't a traditional dish.  Bobby's recipe called for grilling the flat breads and shrimp, then layering the bread with the puree and shrimp, and topping with the cilantro pesto.  I wanted more of a complete meal, so I added sliced onion and red bell pepper as well.

The purees were a little ingredient-heavy, but nothing too complicated, and mostly stuff I had on hand.  They were simple to prepare.  Just a matter of dropping the stuff in a food processor and giving it a whir.

all of the ingredients for the pesto went in the processor

The pesto was an odd mix of flavors, but it worked.  It had both cilantro and spinach, along with a couple of cloves of garlic, toasted pine nuts, a little bit of parmesan, a couple of tablespoons of lime juice, and olive oil.  One mistake I made was to not mellow the garlic a little before adding it.  The pesto was delicious, but packed a huge garlic punch, and consequently a little heart burn in the evening.

It was too late to fix that in the pesto, but I did fix it in the bean puree.  A great way to take the edge off of raw garlic is to pop it in the microwave for about 15 seconds.  The heat slightly, very slightly, cooks the garlic cloves, and it also makes them very easy to peel.

I used cannelini beans instead of chick peas in the bean puree, because I love their very creamy texture and their pale yellow-white color.  I just rinsed out the food processor, and added the beans, a couple of cloves of mellowed garlic, about a quarter of a red onion, the juice of a lime, about half a chipotle pepper, a tablespoon of honey, salt and pepper, and half a cup of tahini.  It made a really delicious hummus-like puree.  In fact, I will probably come back to this combination of ingredients to make a hummus.

a pair of sauces for the grilled shrimp

The shrimp prep was very simple.  I just seasoned the shrimp and vegetables with salt and pepper.  I put the flatbreads on the grill first.  I don't mind making my own, but the packaged naan breads from the store are really quite good, so I just grabbed a package of those.  I put the veggies on as well, to get them caramelized, because the shrimp cook so quickly.

a few minutes head start on the veggies will give you

nicely caramelized onions and peppers

the naan came off and the shrimp went on

Shrimp will cook in just a couple of minutes a side, and they are very easy to overcook and turn to little chunks of rubber, so it's best to pay attention while they cook.  I know the meal sounds a little complicated, but really, the prep was so easy, I had everything ready in less than half an hour.

the bright, garlicky sauces were delicious with the

tender shrimp and soft naan