Grilled Lemon Chili Shrimp

We love seafood in our house, so when summer comes it's only a matter of time before the shrimp hit the Bar-B.  I often prepare my shrimp this way but you could swap out the herbs and chili for any spices you may have in your spice rack.  Sometimes the most delicious spice combinations are discovered when you just start dumping things on! 

 

This is a light meal that just oozes summer.  To keep with the light feeling I decided to pair the shrimp with Grilled Vegetables and Fried Couscous.  This meal is super easy to prepare since the couscous just needs to be reheated and the veggies can be prepared ahead of time.  Citrus juice cooks shrimp so you would not want to let the shrimp sit overnight in the lemon juice because it would likely be cooked before it hit the grill, unless that is you want ceviche in which case soak away!

Grilled Lemon Chili Shrimp
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1 lemon, juiced
3T oil *Use whatever kind you like.  I used melted coconut oil and it worked well*
2T chili powder
2T parsley

Mix together lemon juice, oil and parsley.  Toss shrimp in the lemon mixture until well coated.  Arrange shrimp on wood or metal skewers *TIP - if using wood skewers, soak them in water first to prevent burning.  Sprinkle chili powder over shrimp.  Grill shrimp until they are pink (time will vary depending on grill temperature).  You can also brush any of the excess lemon mixture on the shrimp as they grill to add more flavour.

Grilled Vegetables

Nothing says summer like BBQ!  Now that the weather is warming up we have been grilling a lot more of our meals.  I love this for two reasons; 1. John does the grilling in our house so I actually get to catch a few minutes of the news and 2. It dirties a lot less dishes!  I don't want to negate one of the pluses by making a side dish in the house so I've been trying to make them on the BBQ as well.  Normally we just skip the pasta or rice when we BBQ so I only have to come up with a vegetable dish.  Who says you always have to have a grain with your meal?

This recipe is remarkably easy and can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge overnight.  This is super handy now that Roman is walking all over the place and getting into everything.  When he goes down for his nap I quickly assemble the ingredients and get them ready to cook.

Grilled Beets with Mushrooms and Onion (Serves 2)
4 beets, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
3 cups mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup coconut oil

Layer beets onto a sheet of tin foil.  Make sure the foil is long enough to fold over top of the beets to form a packet.  Top the beets with half of the butter and half of the coconut oil.  You could also add dill, salt, pepper, or any other spices to the beets at this point.  I personally like the natural flavor of the beets so I leave them plain.  Fold the tin foil over the beets and seal the edges.  *TIP - be sure to fold the edges of the tin foil up so that all the juices stay inside the packet.

For the second dish, layer the sliced mushrooms on top of the sliced onions in a tin pan.  You could also use the tin foil packet method for this. *TIP - for grilling vegetables I often reuse the tin pans that I had previously frozen meals in.  As long as there are no holes in them why not use them again!?  Top the mushrooms with the remaining butter and coconut oil.  Again you can add any spices you like at this point.  Cover the pan with tin foil.

Place both packets on the grill and cook for 20-25 minutes at 500°.  Obviously every grill is different, so you may want to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn.  The vegetables become tender, beautifully caramelized (sometimes slightly charred but that's the best part!) and absolutely delicious!

I know what your thinking, why on earth did I put butter and coconut oil in the pouches?  The vegetables, especially the onions, soak up the most amazing coconut flavor which makes this feel even more like summer!

Grilled Asian Sesame Beef Skewers

With warm spring weather comes BBQ season!  John has been itching to get our BBQ up and running so I decided to make this in my latest freezer meal blitz.  This recipe was originally posted on The Black Peppercorn and has quickly become a family favorite.  The best part is that no cooking is required on freezer meal cooking day.  Just dump everything into a freezer bag and stick it in the freezer.

I love making this as a freezer meal because it allows you to use a cheaper cut of meat like an inside round steak rather than a beef tenderloin, which the original recipes calls for. Not only does this save you money but it but it saves you time buy having it frozen in the marinade. All that's left to do is thaw and grill.

Grilled Asian Sesame Beef Skewers
4 - 6 oz. inside round steaks
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
4 garlic cloves
4T fresh ginger, minced
1t chili flakes
2T sesame seeds

Cut beef into 1 inch cubes and place in a freezer bag.  Mix all remaining ingredients together and pour over beef.  Marinate for at least one hour.  Thread the beef cubes onto skewers and grill until cooked to your liking.

Now if you're like us you usually realize your out of propane for the BBQ just as you sit the meat on the grill.  Don't panic!!!  It's not the end of the world!  Lay the skewers of beef onto a cookie sheet and pop them into the oven on broil for 45 minutes for well done beef, being sure to flip them half way through.  *Turns out we weren't out of propane but our BBQ actually died.  John was so excited that he got to buy a new one!*

I like to serve these skewers with quinoa and chopped veggies.  In this case I decided to cook my quinoa in beef stock (a leftover carton from another meal) and add chopped cucumber, tomato and green onion.