WIAW #27: Chipotle Lime Shrimp Skewers

This weekend I was treated to a lovely homemade Italian meal by good friends of Aaron and mine but unfortunately as the nature of many Italians I was fed enough for a small (10,000) army. But no fear, after lying in bed in pain, I recovered from the deliciousness. So you might understand why I veggied-out the next day. If I have learned one thing in my life it is all things in moderation. A carb/calorie heavy overload is bad enough but a veggie-overload won’t necessarily even it out. Moderation folks, moderation. So today it’ll be light carbs, a small protein and a side of veggies.

But here’s how it looked ahead of this:

Breakfast

Great grains Cranberry cereal fat-free milk

Black tea with splash of half and half

Lunch

Arugula salad, dried cherries, walnuts, dried apricots, a little blue stilton with homemade vinaigrette

Bowl of V8 tomato herb soup

2 glasses water

Dinner

Grilled chipotle lime shrimp, grilled red peppers and onions, sautéed kale, wild rice pilaf, fresh cucumber salad

Glass of Pinot Noir

Dessert

Two Green & Black mini dark chocolate bars

One thing I did get out of all this is a great new recipe for grilled shrimp. When we got home Aaron and I got out steak for them but nothing for me. Sadly when my mom came home 4-5 hours later the chicken sausage she just pulled out of the freezer was not going to work in a food-emergency moment of hunger. So, I went for some shrimp. Some for me and a few for them on the side of their steaks. I have always seen citrus and seafood as good pairs so I decided to experiment. Instead of just adding a little lime juice to the marinade I added lime zest as well. A drizzle of garlic olive oil and a little chipotle chili seasoning later, we were in business.

But that is only part of the story…

Today is the premiere of what will now be known as GWA or Grilling with Aaron. For some time now Aaron had been really excited about sharing one of his many talents with you all and one of my favorites, his grilling expertise. Yay!

Now if you are like me, you have an Aaron that does all your grilling for you and makes all your deliciously grilled food look/taste good. I might make a killer marinade but as most of you know, a good marinade means nothing if your shrimp are over cooked. Thank goodness for my grilling wizard of a fiancé. Check out his own tab under GWA for grilling tips throughout the summer!

Here’s his advice:

For the shrimp, ensure that you rotate it after starts to show a little golden/brown glaze.  The timing per side will very on the size of the shrimp and the temperature of the grill. I recommend 3-5 minutes for each side until golden brown. But be careful because nothing is worse than over cooked shrimp.

Chipotle Lime Grilled Shrimp Skewers: 5 skewers

Ingredients:

25 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

Juice and zest of half a lime

3-4 tablespoons of garlic infused olive oil

1 tsp. of sea salt

1 large garlic clove, minced

Black pepper

Chipotle Chili powder

5 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes

 

Directions:

Heat up grill on medium heat.

In a medium bowl toss peeled shrimp in everything except the chili powder. Mix well.

Carefully thread shrimp on the wooden skewers, about 5 shrimp per skewer, leaving room in between each shrimp. Sprinkle skewered shrimp with chili powder on each side and rub in.

Place skewers on hot grill and grill on each side for 3-5 minutes until golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Love,

The College Cuisiner

What's you favorite way to make shrimp? who does your grilling?