Sesame Ginger Grilled Shrimp

After going to the grocery store, I made the mistake of assuming I would have fresh ginger at home - I hate when that happens! So what follows here is the modified version using dried ginger instead of fresh. It still came out good though - loved the ginger and the grilled flavor, and I served it over rice. I also made the mistake of not informing my family that I had planned out dinner, so when I returned home from the grocery store there was a steak marinating, oops. Easy solution - Surf and Turf night!

Sesame Ginger Grilled Shrimp
with grilled steak, vegetables and brown rice

Sesame Ginger Marinade:
1/3 cup olive oil
1 TB lite soy sauce
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 TB toasted sesame seeds*
1 tsp ground ginger
1-2 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped

*Toasting sesame seeds: Use a nonstick pan over med heat, add just the sesame seeds - no oil or liquid, and toss the seeds pretty frequently until you notice them turning a light brown. Be careful to watch the seeds and stir them around a lot so the seeds don't burn, which will happen fast if you're not careful.

After toasting the seeds all you have to do is whisk together all of the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. As I mentioned before, the original recipe that this idea came from called for fresh ginger, so feel free to use that instead - maybe use 1-2 TB of it.

With your marinade whisked, divide it in half - one half for marinating your vegetables and one half for marinating your shrimp.

Marinating vegetables - broccoli, red pepper,
onion, carrot, brussels sprouts

1 bag of cooked jumbo shrimp (frozen), 26-30 per 1 lb. bag

As you'll see above I used a bag of frozen, previously cooked shrimp, this way I could just throw it on the grill to get a nice sear rather than worry about timing and whether it was cooked or not. You could easily use fresh shrimp, just be sure to keep it on the grill until it turns a nice pink color and is no longer grey. In my case, I put the veggies on the grill in that handy veggie grilling basket that I used from a recent blog post and after they had cooked for about 5 mins, added the shrimp for the last 5 mins.

If you don't have a grill I think this would also be good in a wok or large saute pan too - there's your solution for the apartment dwellers out there! When you serve, garnish with lots of fresh cilantro and more of the toasted sesame seeds. I made some brown rice because I like the heartiness of it, but I think a jasmine rice would be a nice touch to keep the asian flavors there. Enjoy, and Happy Memorial Day!