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9/11/08

Our Goodbye to Summer... Grilled Spicy Shrimp


Part of living in an area of the country that gets 4 distinctly different seasons is that your body tells of the shift in temperature and atmosphere by instinctively craving certain foods and losing a craving for others.

In the Fall I find myself wrinkling my nose at lettuce salads, lemony grilled shrimp and light, citrussy fruits and instead the thought of creamy homemade soups, homemade bread, pumpkin bread and apple pie all sound delicious.

Last week jumbo grilled shrimp sounded amazing and was on sale so I bought two pounds. As the week went by the cooler, rainy weather set in and I realized my body was spending more time considering the goodness of a hot garden vegetable cream soup than icy cold crisp lettuce. Time to get that shrimp made!

Our meal last night was a spicy marinated grilled shrimp and peppers, cheese tortellini pasta salad with artichokes and raw veggies with dip. Our last hurrah before the leaves start to fall and the snow starts to fly I'm afraid.


Spicy Grilled Shrimp

1 c olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ketchup
2 t oregano
1 t salt
1 t fresh ground black pepper
1 T parsley, dried or 3 fresh, chopped
1/4 c hot pepper sauce - as hot as you prefer and add more if you want it extra spicy less if your family doesn't like it hot

About 2 lbs. shrimp
Peppers
Onions
Mushrooms

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Add the shrimp and vegetables (I like to put the vegetables on the bottom and the shrimp on top to keep the shrimp from being 'cooked' by the lemon juice and acids in the marinade. Let set for 2-12 hours in the refrigerator. The longer the stronger, and the more immersed the shrimp, the stronger the flavor. Turn occasionally to evenly distribute the marinade an hour or two before grilling if you haven't turned it at all yet.

Thread on skewers - I do the vegetables separate from the shrimp but that's up to you. The vegetables will take about 10-15 minutes to grill over medium heat while your shrimp will be done as soon as it's pink on both sides - about 3-4 minutes for each side.Print Friendly and PDF