Whole 30 Day 22: Grilled Shrimp and Veggies with Mixed Greens

I guess we are ready for summer! I’m kidding, but this meal does feel like summer fare to me. We tend to do a lot of shish kabobs in the summer months, and these shrimp are a favorite.

Grilled shrimp, veggies, and mixed green salad

Veggie kabobs are a great way to use up those last bits you have hanging around. Only have 3 potatoes and 2 zucchini left in your produce bin? No problem! Par boil the potatoes, cut everything up, along with some peppers and onions and you’ll find you have plenty to go around. We love grilled tomatoes, and these little campari’s I have been getting are perfect. But, I should have followed my instinct to put them all on one skewer and not mix them in with the rest. I wanted the colorful pictures, but the truth is they cook a lot faster than anything else and it’s probably best to keep them solo.

If you’re using wooden skewers be sure to soak them in water first for at least 15 minutes. We mix a clove of garlic in a little dish of olive oil and brush the veggies then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Jason is in charge of how much oil goes on because if there is a lot dripping down it will flare up when you’re grilling.

Shrimp do not need long to marinade, and they are much easier to get on the skewers before you slather them in olive oil. We skewer first and then season with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, kosher salt, fresh pepper, a pinch of red pepper flakes and some chopped fresh parsley. Let sit for about 20-30 minutes before grilling. Obviously fresh shrimp are ideal, but even the ones you buy in the case at the meat counter have most likely been previously frozen. So if you are planning for a meal later in the week it is fine to buy a bag of frozen shrimp which are peeled and deveined making your prep time a lot faster. We like to thaw our shrimp under running cold water, which only takes a minute or two to get them thawed enough to put on the skewers. They can finish thawing while they are sitting in the olive oil and lemon juice.

Jason put the veggies on first to give them a head start. Depending on the heat of your fire they’ll need 5-7 minutes per side while the shrimp only take 3-4 minutes. Cook everything over direct heat.

All in all this is a really quick meal, definitely easy enough for a weeknight. Not every meal we have made since we started the Whole 30 has appealed to Ford, but grilled shrimp are one of his favorites. It was nice to put something on the table I knew he would love that also fit in with our current food plan.

And speaking of plan, we are ready for our final week of meal plans! I will be back tomorrow with the last set of dinners and grocery list for our January Whole 30. See you then!

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