Grilled Shrimp with Lemon-Herb Sauce

I just got back from vacation in San Francisco, Pensacola, and New Orleans, all of which have amazing seafood. Surprisingly, I am still craving the stuff. As luck would have it, when I went to Publix yesterday, shrimp skewers were on sale!

This shrimp recipe is flavorful, light, and, best of all, ready in under 15 minutes!

You will need: about 50 medium shrimp threaded onto skewers (or 10 shrimp skewers), 2 lemons, 1 handful of parsley (about a cup and a half), 2 small cloves of garlic, 5 sprigs of fresh thyme, olive oil spray, 1/4 cup of chopped chives, 1 Tablespoon of red pepper flakes (not pictured), and salt and pepper, to taste.

Thread your shrimp! (Or just unwrap the package.)

Sprinkle one side of the shrimp with some salt and pepper.

Heat your grill pan to medium heat and spray with a little olive oil.

If you don't live in downtown Atlanta, you can do this on a real grill. I'm not that lucky.

Place the shrimp seasoned side down on the pan.

While the first side is grilling, season the other side with salt and pepper.

After the first side has grilled for 2 minutes, flip them! No one likes overcooked shrimp and these go by really fast.

After they've grilled on the other side for about a minute, remove them to a plate and set aside while we do the same thing with the second batch of shrimp.

Season, grill, season, flip...

And set aside with the other shrimp!

Now let's make the sauce!

Toss a cup and a half of Italian parsley into a mini food processor.

Add in the leaves of 5 sprigs of thyme. You can't see them, but they're there.

Now toss in 2 small, peeled garlic cloves.

Followed by a tablespoon of red pepper flakes. Now, my sauce turned out pretty spicy so if you want a milder sauce, I would add in maybe half a teaspoon and work your way up.

Now throw in 1/4 cup of chopped chives. Any kind of mild onion would work here, I just really like the bright green color of chives.

Now squeeze in the juice of both lemons being careful not to add any seeds. Trust me, they don't taste good.

Now sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.

Now let her whirl! You want everything to become incorporated and finely chopped.

Beautiful!

Now to serve, place some shrimp skewers on a plate...

And top with some sauce.

Serve with a side of salad or slaw. I made a wonderful Sorta Slaw to go with the shrimp. I still am playing around with the dressing for the slaw but I should be posting it soon.

A beautiful summer meal! Not only is this recipe fast and delicious, it's also good served hot off the grill, at room temperature, or cold like I'm eating it right now.

Seriously. This was a very photogenic dinner. I had a very difficult time choosing which picture I liked the most.

Grilled Shrimp with Lemon-Herb Sauce

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 50 medium shrimp threaded onto 10 skewers (or 10 shrimp skewers)
• olive oil spray
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 handful of parsley (about a cup and a half)
• 2 small cloves of garlic, peeled
• 5 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaved torn off and stems discarded
• 1/4 cup of chopped chives
• 1 Tablespoon of red pepper flakes (For a mild sauce, use 1/2 teaspoon)
• salt and pepper, to taste.

Instructions:

1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat and spray with a little olive oil. Season the shrimp skewers with a little salt and pepper, to taste. Grill the shrimp in two batches, cooking for about 1-2 minutes per side. Don't over cook the shrimp! Take the shrimp off the pan and set aside.
2. To make the sauce, combine the last 7 ingredients in a mini food processor and blend until everything is finely chopped.
3. Top the skewers with sauce and enjoy!