Memorial Day is quickly approaching and that means… SUMMER IS HERE! With that, grilling season! Even though we grill all year round, summer is just meant to sit out on the patio, pop open a cold beer (or sangria, vodka, cider…) and fire up the grill! It must be the Hawaiian in me, but I think everything tastes better on a grill or open fire.
The best part about grilling is that all obvious avoidable hazards aside (exploding fire in your face because the flames went out from the wind and you didn’t notice… it’s ok, I survived without a scratch) it’s pretty damn easy. A basic menu of vegetables and meat is simple, quick, filling and pretty hard to mess up. Even then, there’s so much water in vegetables you would have to try pretty hard to burn them (maybe do the grilling prior to your 5th beer just to be sure?) and everyone knows hot dogs are better with a little char on them!
On to the kebabs. Let’s get one thing out of the way right off the bat- making kebabs is a bit labor intensive. But they present beautifully! If you don’t want to make these as kebabs you can cut the veggies and pineapple so they are a little bigger and can go straight on the grill without the sticks. You’ll still need sticks for the shrimp though, there’s no avoiding that. The veggies don’t have to be complicated, just some good seasoning and olive oil and they taste great. In my opinion it’s ALL about the sauce you dip them in. This Pineapple BBQ sauce is the real star, it is AWESOME. It would also go great on chicken, burgers, pork…
If you are using wood kebab sticks soak them in water before you put everything on them and that way they won’t light on fire on the grill!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, that you get some beautiful sunshine, relax and have some delicious food! I will be off to my Bachelorette Weekend in Fort Collins, CO with all of my best friends, green and purple tutu’s and lots of champagne! Cheers!
Shrimp Kebabs & Pineapple BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 2 pounds Shrimp, fresh (deveined and not peeled is what I used)
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/2 Lemon, juiced
Pineapple BBQ Sauce
- 1 whole Pineapple, divided (see below)
- 1 15 oz can Tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 3 tablespoons Honey
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne *optional- gives it a kick!
- 1 tablespoon Colgin liquid smoke, Natural Hickory flavor (any other would work too)
Vegetables
- 2 Bell peppers, assorted colors for fun
- 1 medium Onion
- 8 ounces Mushrooms,
- 1 Zucchini,
- 1/2 Lemon, juiced
- 1/4 cup Olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon Fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
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Prepare the shrimp to marinate- peel and rinse if necessary. Pat dry with a paper towel. Mix together olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper and lemon juice to shrimp. Cover and place in fridge while you prep your sauce and veggies.
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Cut your pineapple into 1 inch cubes. Take 1 cup of those cubes and mince for the sauce. Set aside the rest of your pineapple for the kebabs.
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Heat a medium sized sauce pan on medium low heat and add all sauce ingredients: pineapple, tomato sauce, apple cider vinegar, garlic pow, smoked paprika, chili pow, pepper, honey, cayenne, liquid smoke to pan and mix together. Simmer the sauce while you prep the vegetables stirring occasionally.
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Slice zucchini into 1/4-1/2 inch circles, bell peppers into about 1 inch squares, mushrooms in half and the onion into 1 inch pieces also. Place together in a bowl.
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Season vegetables with the olive oil, salt, garlic pow, pepper, lemon juice and salt.
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Now the fun part! Putting together the kebabs! Put the vegetables on the same sticks, the pineapple on separate ones and the shrimp on separate ones also since they cook differently. Any order is fine just make sure you leave a tiny bit of room between things so they cook evenly.
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Fire up the grill! Heat on high. When ready add the vegetable and pineapple kebabs first. Turn every few minutes to get an even char- for about 15 minutes.
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Add the shrimp kebabs and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Serve up the sauce, dip in and enjoy!