Shrimp & Pineapple Skewers

I can't think of a more summer dinner than shrimp and pineapple cooked on skewers over the grill.  The flavor on these were so good and it's a very simple dish.  Perfect for an August evening when all you want to do is have a delicious dinner without a whole lot of effort.  

While you're cutting up ingredients, soak eight to ten wooden skewers in water for around 15 minutes. Cut 2 bunches of scallions into 2 inch pieces.

Cut 1/2 pineapple into 1 1/2 inch pieces. 

You'll need around a pound of jumbo shrimp peeled with tails left on.

Heat grill to medium high and lightly oil the hot grill.  Whisk together honey, soy sauce, and vinegar.  Reserve half the sauce for serving.

Thread shrimp, pineapple, and scallions on the skewers.  

Brush with sauce and grill until shrimp begin to turn opaque.  Brush again with the sauce and flip and cook for another 2 minutes or so.  Pineapple and scallions will be lightly charred when done.

Serve with reserved sauce.  We ate this with corn on the cob and it was the ultimate summer dinner.  The soy sauce marinade was awesome and could be easily used in other dishes, so if you want to make extra I'm sure you'll find a use. Enjoy!

Shrimp & Pineapple Skewers

Serves 4

Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine

vegetable oil for grilling

6 tablespoons of honey

3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons rice vinegar (I used cider vinegar)

1 pound large to jumbo shrimp, peeled with tails

1/2 pineapple, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

2 bunches scallions cut into 2 inch pieces

8-10 skewers

Soak eight to ten wooden skewers in water for around 15 minutes. 

Cut 2 bunches of scallions into 2 inch pieces.

Cut 1/2 pineapple into 1 1/2 inch pieces. 

Heat grill to medium high and lightly oil the hot grill.  

Whisk together honey, soy sauce, and vinegar.  

Reserve half the sauce for serving.

Brush with sauce and grill until shrimp begin to turn opaque.  

Brush again with the sauce and flip and cook for another 2 minutes or so.  

Serve with reserved sauce and eat up! 

Poached Shrimp on Succotash

This is a great summer dinner idea.  Light, healthy and easily made without getting too hot in your kitchen!  It's a lot more flavorful than I thought it would be, and I think you'll really enjoy it.

You'll need 1 cup cooked corn kernels, 2 medium zucchini diced in medium pieces and 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces.

1 pound of large shrimp peed, around 35 shrimp.

In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high.  Add green beans and cook until bright green.  Add corn and zucchini, saute until crisp.  

Poach shrimp in a medium pot filled with 6 cups of water, old bay seasoning, and lemon.

 Bring to a boil add add shrimp, simmer until opaque throughout, around 2-3 minutes.  Drain, discard lemon and transfer shrimp to a bowl.

Transfer veggies to a platter.

Top with shrimp mixture and season with salt and pepper and serve warm.  This dish was so tasty, and it was great as leftovers too.  Nothing beats a light tasty shrimp dinner in the summertime!

Packed Shrimp on Succotash

Serves 4

Adapted from Everyday Food

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1 lemon, halved

1 pound large shrimp, peeled

2 tablespoons champagne or white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 cup olive oil, divided

1/2 pound green beans trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups corn kernels

2 medium zucchini, diced medium

salt and pepper

In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high.  

Add green beants and cook until bright green. 

Add corn and zucchini, saute until crisp. 

Poach shrimp in a medium pot filled with 6 cups of water, old bay seasoning, and lemon.

Bring to a boil add add shrimp, simmer until opaque throughout, around 2-3 minutes.  
Drain, discard lemon and transfer shrimp to a bowl.
Transfer veggies to a platter.
Top with shrimp mixture and season with salt and pepper and serve warm.

Chicken Kabobs (minus skewers)

Can you believe it's almost the 4th of July?  I'm on a time crunch to get my red/white/blue dessert done, but hopefully I'll pull it off and be able to share it with all of you.  Kabobs are the perfect summer meal if you ask me, so I thought I'd share a great recipe for grilled kabobs that you might try for the holiday weekend.  I had pre-made chicken kabobs in my fridge from Central Market, but you could put these together yourself very easily.  We had some technical difficulties due to the wooden skewers breaking, so this isn't as pretty as I would like, but either way they were still delicious.

These kabobs had chicken, green and red peppers, onion, and zucchini slices.  You could use pieces of beef or shrimp, as the marinade would taste great on pretty much anything. 

Place around four tablepsoons of honey in a medium sized bowl.

Add oil, pepper, and balsamic vinegar.

Mix together until well combined.

I placed the kabobs in a 9x13 inch baking dish and poured the marinade over them and let them soak overnight.  Turn them at least once to make sure the other side has a few hours to soak.

This is where we had to go "off roading" and just take everything off the skewers since we couldn't really flip them anymore due to the broken skewers.  FYI if this happens to you, putting everything in a little foil packet works just as good as on the grill!  Cook them on the grill for around 10 minutes, flipping at least once, until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. 

Serve immediately.  I served with cheese and pepper pasta, which I posted about yesterday.

As promised, here's a photo of my perfect bite.  Which one looks better mine or C's?  I guess you need to be the judge because I'm a little biased.  Take a look at his bite by clicking here. These kabobs were so great, they were full of flavor, and the perfect summer dinner! 

Chicken Kabobs

4 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons olive oil

3 teaspoons pepper

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Pour the marinade over kabobs and let soak overnight.  

*If you can't do overnight, at least 2 hours.

Turn once around half way through marinading.

Cook on the grill or in the stove until chicken is cooked through.

Serve immediately, and enjoy!