Big Joe serves up a great easy to make Summer Dish

Schedules during the summer can be hectic and the time used in planning, preparing and serving that dinner can take away from your summer fun. These shrimp kabobs are easy to make, you can prepare in advance, they are quick to cook and easy to serve. The kabobs can be served over rice or with a side dish of potato salad or other cold salad. A tomato salad is also a great addition to your kabob dinner and that also can be made ahead of time. The vegetables on the skewer will serve as your side dish.

I use the large shrimp (usually size U12’s) since it’s a meal and not an appetizer, if you want to cook the kabobs as an appetizer, I suggest you get a slightly smaller size shrimp.

So if you’re coming home from the beach, pool or patio party or after a hard day at work, my shrimp kabobs will be an easy summer dinner for you to enjoy, plus it’s light and enjoyable. Have a great summer.

You'll need:

24 jumbo shrimp, cleaned, peeled with tail on and deveined
1 1⁄2 pounds of cherry tomatoes
18 whole white button mushrooms
2 large green peppers, cut into large pieces
2 large red peppers, cut into large pieces
2 large Vidalia or sweet onions, cut into large pieces
12 cherry peppers (hot)
1 – bottle of Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing
1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of brown or Dijon mustard
1⁄2 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon of oregano
salt and freshly ground pepper
wood or metal skewers

How to put it all together:

In a large mixing bowl (non metal) mix salad dressing, red wine vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper. Add shrimp and vegetables, mixing all so that shrimp and vegetables are covered with marinade. Cover dish with plastic wrap and marinate for about 2 hours, more if possible.

After vegetables and shrimp are marinated, assemble skewers by alternating vegetables on each skewer. Do not put shrimp on same skewer as vegetables but place shrimp on their own skewers. Note, don’t put the vegetables and shrimp too close together on the skewers, and leave some room between each piece so that they can cook through.

Preheat grill to high. Add vegetables to the grill first, cook and turn every two minutes, after 6-7 minutes add shrimp to the grill. Cook shrimp for 3-4 minutes on each side once pink and slightly charred, remove everything from grill. Serve with a rice dish and/or a nice salad.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.