Grilled Southwestern Salad with Shrimp

For Memorial Day weekend, my friends and I spent one evening grillin’. Speaking of grilling, let me use this opportunity to make a very important note—grilling is not the same as bar-b-queing.

Ever since I moved up North, I have noticed that these northern people think throwing some hamburgers on the grill is bar-b-queing. Obviously they have never been to the South where we know what true bar-b-queing is! Contrary to grilling, bar-b-queing generally requires pork ribs (or beef, when in Texas) that have been slowly cooked over a grill allowing the smoke to gradually seep into the meat. Anything else is just grillin’.

Now that we have that cleared up, let’s move onto what we grilled up. Most of our friends grilled hamburgers. Carrie prepared the hamburgers by mixing the meat with finely chopped onions, worcestershire sauce (can any of you pronounce this sauce?), and salt. They looked great!

Alison and I opted for a grilled southwestern salad with shrimp. Aside from having to spend some time chopping, this is a very simple dish and a nice deviation from the normal grilling food. Bobby Flay would be proud.

Before I share the recipe, I should point out that when grilling shrimp, you need to place the shrimp on kebab sticks. Otherwise, the shrimp would just fall through the grill. If the kebab sticks you are using are made of wood, make sure you first soak the sticks in water to prevent them from burning—or worse, catching on fire. That would be a bummer.

Okay, here is how I made this meal (for about 4 servings):

Grilled Southwestern Salad

• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• ½ large red onion, diced
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Juice and zest from 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• 4 ears of corn
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix first five ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Grill corn until grill marks appear. Cut corn kernels off the cob and add to the bowl. Note that the cobs will be very hot. I used a napkin when holding the top of the cob to cut the kernels off.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Grilled Shrimp

• 1 ½ lb shrimp, peeled
• Cumin (you can also use cayenne pepper or paprika)
• Pepper

1. Place shrimp onto kebabs.
2. Sprinkle a little cumin and pepper over shrimp on both sides.
3. Place shrimp kabobs on grill and cook through. Remember to not over cook or the shrimp will become tough.

Very easy and very good. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!