Barbecued Shrimp with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

The grill has been put to use for many dinners lately with the glorious Spring weather. We do have a penchant for the zesty Plantation Shrimp over rice and have made that so many times our kids have begged for a different barbecue dinner. I perused some of my cookbooks and came up with the idea of marinating the shrimp in a lemony dressing with plenty of snipped garden herbs and then grilling them, tails left on for easier handling. We made up a batch of tasty Spinach Risotto, and dunked our shrimps in some peanut dipping sauce kicked up with a little fresh grated ginger and hot sauce. A perfect combo for a Springtime BBQ!



Here's the gist of what I did:

Barbecued Shrimp with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

1 lb. frozen large shrimp, thawed and peeled down to the tail

Marinade Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
Juice of one large lemon
2 Tbsp. snipped fresh dill
2 Tbsp. snipped fresh chives
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Peanut Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 Tbsp. soy sauce (check to make sure it's wheat-free!)
1 (one inch) piece gingerroot, peeled and grated
1 tsp. honey
2-3 Tbsp. hot pepper sauce
3 Tbsp. hot water

Prepare shrimp. If you like to peel your own shrimp at the table, leave the shells and legs on, but if the bugginess of these crustaceans freaks you or your family out, just leave the tails on for a little handle. Can you tell that my bunch are not entomophages?

Mix marinade ingredients together and pour over shrimp in a glass or ceramic bowl. Let marinate at least 2 hours.

Make dipping sauce by placing all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and whipping around until it is smooth. Cover and let stand at room temperature to let flavors meld.

When ready to grill, make sure grill is really hot. Drain shrimps and place on oiled flat surface (or tin foil over grill rack). Cook 3-4 minutes on each side, turning once. The tails should be slightly charred.

Bring to the table and dunk those shrimps in your sauce. Luscious!

Serves four.

This recipe seems like the perfect contribution to this month's round of "Go Ahead, Honey, It's Gluten-Free", a themed blog event started by Naomi at Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried and hosted this time round by Carol at the exquisitely-photographed blog, Simply Gluten-Free. The theme of this month's event is "Manly Food", and a barbecue, even when tended by a female BBQ flippers, always gets the testosterone and caveman tendencies flowing. Tune in to Simply Gluten-Free after the June 26 deadline to see what other manly recipes are musking up the Internet. Maybe someone will take up the challenge of cooking up some grub on their automobile radiator!