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Health & Fitness

Grill Up Garlic-Lemon Shrimp Skewers with Zucchini Quinoa this Labor Day weekend!

Labor Day is the second largest cookout event of the year and this may be your last chance to throw a backyard cookout before darker evenings and colder nights send your guests indoors. Here is a very easy and healthy meal to serve this Labor Day or make all year long. I made this meal for a gathering with very good friends. Here is the yummy recipe. Happy Labor Day!

Garlic-Shrimp Ingredients:
½ bunch fresh chives, finely chopped
1 large lemons
1 small shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
16 uncooked jumbo shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled and deveined
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
pinch of dried oregano

PREPARATION:

  1. Soak 16 bamboo skewers in water for 45 minutes. This will help prevent the skewers from burning too quickly on the grill. Finely grate the peel from the lemons into a medium bowl. Cut one lemon in half and set it aside. Reserve the remaining lemon for another use. Stir the chives, shallot, dried oregano, pepper flakes and garlic into the lemon peel.
  2. Add the shrimp and olive oil to the lemon peel mixture. Sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Remove the skewers from the water and pat them dry.
  3. Thread 1 shrimp on the end of each skewer. Prepare the barbecue or flat iron grill pan for high heat. Grill the shrimp until just opaque in the center, about 2 minutes per side. Squeeze the reserved halved lemon over the shrimp on the grill. Transfer the skewers to a platter and serve with zucchini quinoa.
Zucchini Quinoa Ingredients:
1 cup of organic Tricolor Quinoa (I found this at Trader Joe's)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups of water
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained
1 1/2 pounds of medium zucchini (about 5) 
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons lime juice
4 teaspoons lemon juice
5 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch of sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of oregano
1/2 cup of crumbled black pepper feta (I found this at Whole Foods)
1 stalk of celery chopped 
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Zucchini Quinoa Directions:
Place the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold water until the water no longer foams. Bring the quinoa, salt and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low cover and simmer until the quinoa is tender about 20-25 minutes.

In a medium pan, add olive oil and garlic to heated pan and chopped Zucchini. Sautee until light golden brown.  

Once done, stir in the garbanzo beans (marinated in olive oil, salt, oregano and red wine vinegar), cooked zucchini, add lemon and lime juice, and olive oil.

Then add in crumbled black pepper feta cheese and season with cumin, salt, and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Darien resident Janine Vairo is the founder of PartyStyle Box and is also a Licensed Real Estate Agent at Kelly Associates Real Estate Inc.

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Janine blogs about party ideas, recipes, trends in the real estate market and home decor. Follow her on Patch and sign up for PartyStyle Box and Kelly Real Estate blog emails!

Email: partystylebox@gmail.com 
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