Aren’t they cute!?!?!?

I am extremely lucky I live right down the street from a wonderful Farmers Market that I frequent often, from its opening in April until pumpkin season in November. I love picking out potatoes that still have the dirt on them, and the oh so delicious butter sweet corn, that grows 1/2 mile down the road from my house in their corn patch. I love going without much of a plan to see whats good that day, and when we pulled up these were right up front.  OK so I’ll admit it, half of the reason I got these at the Farmers Market was there cute factor. I couldn’t help myself, I was sent for veggies and veggies I bought. Just real cute ones so much so that I almost didn’t want to cook them up.  I did and they were delicious! They look great and grilled up nicely. These are great simply dressed with salt, pepper and some olive.

• Green Zucchini
• Yellow Squash
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper 

• Slice veggies in 1/4 thick slices, salt both sides to remove some of the moisture. 
• Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper, adding a pinch more salt
• Grill over medium high flame for about 4-5 minutes or until grill marks appear and Zucchini gets slightly limp.

I served these with the Lime Marinated Shrimp

 Eat and Enjoy !!!

Lime Marinated Shrimp

Summer time to me means grillin and chillin! When of course its not 100 degrees and humid out…One of our favorite things to grill is shrimp, it’s so fresh and light on hot summer days. There are so many great recipes for grilled shrimp it was hard to decide which one to make. Since I was going to make grilled veggies I wanted something light to go along. I walked into the kitchen and the limes were singing to me. You know that Lime song they sing. So Lime Marinated Shrimp it was. While listening to my limes sing, my hubby brought me a cold beer. This summer my hubby and I have been experimenting with summer brews and have found some great ones. My new favorite and a great pairing with this Shrimp is Summer Shandy!! 
 Its like Lemonade Beer so good!! 

Lime Marinated Shrimp 

Grilled Shrimp 

Serves 2

Items need :

Tuperware with cover

Metal Skewers

Grill or Grill pan

• 20 uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 2 limes, also use for zesting zest
• salt
• pepper
• cayenne
• olive oil

• Zest lime or limes... really depends on how much you want , I zested one lime and that was great for us. 
• Place shrimp in a Tupperware with salt, pepper, dash of cayenne, and the juice of 1 1/2 limes, lime zest and then sprinkle with olive oil. Seal with cover and give a good shake or two. Refrigerate for 30 minutes removing them from the fridge about 15 minutes before you want to grill them.
•  Heat grill or grill pan over medium high flame/heat, set the shrimp on a paper towel lined plate to absorb some of the excess marinade, a little tip I learned from the O Magazine. 
• Skewer shrimp.. 5 per skewer ..
• Grill Shrimp for 2-3 minutes on each side until pink in color and slightly curled. 
• Serve with lime wedges and some yummy beer.

Eat and Enjoy!

Grilled Veggies

One of my favorite side dishes during the summer is grilled veggies. Me and the hubby love going over to the local farmers market which happens to be right down the street. This time around we picked up some peppers, onions and of course zucchini . These go really well with some grilled chicken or steak or really anything that you throw on the grill. We served this with Grilled Shrimp and it was perfect!!  Here it is.. a super easy way to eat your veggies!!

Grilled Veggies

Items Needed :

Grill

Grill Basket

• Peppers, seeded, sliced in thick strips****
• Red Onions, sliced in quarters 
• Zucchini, sliced lengthwise than in 1 inch pieces 
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• olive oil

•  Heat grill per your grill instructions 
•  Brush sliced veggies with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder
•  Place the veggies in the basket and set on grill shaking every so often so they don't burn but let them get a little char on them. 
• Cook until desired doneness. 

 Eat and Enjoy!!!

 

Shrimp on the Barbie....

The one thing I love about summer most is the grilling... Not only does it get me out of my kitchen but the food is oh so yummy!! We had quite the hot and humid spell in New England at the beginning of the week so there was no way I was slaving over the hot stove or oven. Since we are big fans of grilled shrimp at our house, grilled shrimp was on the menu the other night. I served these with some grilled veggies and Mango salsa. Stayed tuned for those recipes....Talk about a quick and easy meal, and great for leftovers.

Grilled Shrimp

Items needed:

Grill or Grill pan

4 Skewers, metal or wooden*****

Bowl for marinating( I usually use Tupperware with a cover)

• 30 Shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil, separated
• 1/4 red onion, chopped finely
• 1 clove garlic,minced
• 3 tbsp honey
• lime juice, from one lime
• 1-2 tsp salt**
• 1-2 tsp pepper**
• 4-5 shakes of hot sauce

• Place shrimp in bowl with the 1 tbsp olive oil, honey,lime juice, salt, onion, garlic, pepper, garlic and stir until well mixed, adding more oil if necessary so that they are nicely coated pop the top on your Tupperware bowl and shake to evenly coat shrimp, then set aside for 30 minutes 
• Meanwhile heat grill to medium high heat
• Skewer shrimp, putting 10 shrimp on each one and put on hot grill, grill on each side for 2 minutes until they turn pink

** Adjust to taste...

*** If using wooden skewers, soak in water for  30 minutes to prevent flare up on the grill.

Eat and Enjoy!!!

  

Hong Kong Chicken Wings

As you have heard me say before my hubby bought himself a charcoal grill/smoker back in March and has pretty much used it once or twice a week since. So on a trip to the bookstore I decided to check out the grilling cookbooks and pick one or two up for him. I picked up the Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen and he hasn't put it down since. Not that I'm complaining because we have been having some good eats!!! Take these wings for instance, which was a real quick and easy recipe. These wings are sticky gooey and just plain delicious! 

Hong Kong Chicken Wings 

adapted from The Barbecue Bible
by Steven Raichlen

Items Needed:

Grill/Grill Pan

Wooden Skewers, soaked in water or 30 minutes

• 24 whole Chicken wings, intact
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tsp salt
• 3 tsp freshly ground pepper
• olive oil 
• 1 c honey, for brushing
 

• Rinse chicken wings and pat dry with paper towels. Make two or three deep slashes to the bone, in the meaty part of the each wing. 
• Place chicken wings in a big bowl and sprinkle with the garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil mix together
• Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to a medium high. 
• Thread each chicken wing on a skewer, running the skewer through all three sections of the wings, to hold the wing as open as possible
• Grill wings, turning with tongs until the thicker sections of the wings are no longer pink near the bone, 12- 16 minutes,  moving them around the grill to accommodate the ones that are cooking faster than others. 
• Heat the honey in a small saucepan until just warm on low heat. 
• During the last 4 minutes of grilling, brush the wings with the honey mixture, again moving them around the grill if some are getting to hot.
• Serve with lots of napkins!!!!! 

Eat and Enjoy!!!