Fire Up The Grill – Shrimp Kebabs

This weekend, in between rain drops, I fired up the grill to make supper. Pulled some shrimp from the freezer, vegetables from the crisper drawer and a can of pineapple chunks from the pantry to make an easy Shrimp Kebab Recipe. I found this recipe several years ago when I was prepping to teach a fish class. I like the fact that it has a quick tomato base mixture that is used for the marinade and it is very low in fat. The kids liked it because it has a sweet and sour taste for the shrimp, vegetables and pineapple.

 

 

Shrimp Kebabs

• 20 oz can pineapple chunks
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
• onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
• sweet red pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• yellow pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

Drain pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice. In a small bowl combine the tomato sauce, vinegar, oil, brown sugar, mustard and 1/4 cup pineapple juice. Pour 3/4 of a cup of the marinade into a plastic bag; add shrimp. Coat shrimp by moving bag around; refrigerate for a couple of hours, turning occasionally.

Take remaining marinade and refrigerate until ready to use. Before grilling kebabs, take marinade and bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer until starts to thicken.  Keep warm.

In large pot bring six cups of water to a boil.  Add onions and peppers to water and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.

Drain and discard marinade that has been used on the shrimp. On 12 skewers thread shrimp, vegetables and pineapple. Grill kebabs, covered, over medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side, basting occasionally with remaining marinade.

Before serving drizzle kebabs with any remaining tomato sauce mixture. Serve over rice if desired.

Grilling Kebabs Tips:

• I blanch my vegetables, especially when I am cooking fish on my kebabs. I find that all the ingredients cook more evenly.
• Cut pieces of food into uniform sizes to ensure even cooking.
• Clean your metal skewers well and rub with oil to keep food from sticking.
• If using wooden skewers, soak in water for thirty minutes before thread the food on them to prevent skewers from burning.
• To help maneuvering the kebabs and stabilizing the food, insert two skewers parallel to each other when cooking larger pieces of food. I find this very helpful when grilling just vegetables.

When you are ready to serve your kebabs, you might want to place them over a nice bed of rice. -OR- How about a nice tortilla shell for a southwestern kebab?

Enjoy!!