How to Make the Ultimate Grilled Shrimp and Vegetable Kebabs

[Music] the idea of putting meat or seafood on a skewer and cooking it over a fire goes back decades if not right back to the cavemen you know it's such a good idea it was probably a cavewoman I like that I like that a lot and I go so far as to say that cooking meat kebab style it's probably in our human DNA mm-hm and as time went on people started adding vegetables to the skewer to round out the meal which is where all of our problems began like shrimp and vegetables they're not the best kebab mates and they cook at different rates and today we are gonna skewer this problem once overall mm-hmm and the star of our skewer is shrimp we're starting with a pound and a half of jumbo shrimp because they can stand a slightly longer cooking time on the grill cuz then you can get some good grill color all right and so we're just gonna simply peel and devein the shrimp and to peel them I like to start by the tail end and just pull off the legs in that outer shell all the way up to the top because this is a kebab I'm gonna take off those pesky little tails you just want to pull it and shake it off like that and then you get the little delicate tail meat which is a delicacy in my house and then of course to devein it we're gonna take a sharp paring knife and just cut down the back of the shrimp and you want to look for any sort of discolored vein sometimes it's there sometimes it's not here there's a little bit of discolored you just want to take that vein out a lot of people don't devein their shrimp you can always tell because it tastes a little bit bitter so a lot of recipes for shrimp kabobs that we found either put a hearty spice rub on the shrimp which overpowered its flavor or loaded it with a marinade which really turned them rubbery so we're not gonna do either of those things instead we're gonna brine them see here I have a quart of water and to this we're gonna add two tablespoons of sugar and of course that sweetness helps reinforce that sweet shrimp flavor and helps them Brown a little better on the grill and a little bit of salt this is two tablespoons of table salt and of course before you add the shrimp you want to make sure all that sugar and salt is well dissolved into the water all right there we go and go the shrimp now we're just gonna put a cover on this this only needs to brine for about 15 minutes but we do want to refrigerate it and if you could help me by putting this in that little refrigerator under the counter over by you all right so shrimp are well taken care of now it's time to focus our attention on the scallions bell peppers and mushrooms now the good thing about scallions is they actually grill at the same rate as the shrimp so it makes them a very nice kebab mate and to prep scallions for a skewer you simply want to trim the ends and here you want to trim the root end and then we're just gonna cut them into three inch lengths so that's usually the white part and then two of those and that's all you need to do so this is like the dating game we're trying these vegetables are the perfect meat that's pretty sure that's it gotcha all right next up is the bell pepper which is a classic component on a kabob and an easy way to do a bell pepper for kebabs and of course I washed this pepper already so I'm gonna trim off the top and the bottom now these aren't so easy to put on the kabobs but I'm gonna save these for salad later waste not want not I'm gonna slice through the side of the pepper and open it right up and take out that core and then I'm gonna trim away any seeds and ribs and this is a great way to prep peppers no matter what you doing because if you're just gonna grill them you could lie them flat if you're gonna roast them in the oven you're ready to go or if you're gonna cut them up you can cut them into any size so this is my favorite way to prep a bell pepper now for the kebabs we're making I'm just gonna slice these into three quarter inch wide blanks so we have yours three peppers total and that's gonna give us enough peppers for our skewers and the last vegetable is the mushroom and today we're going to use cremini mushrooms which are also known as baby Bella's and they just have a little bit more flavor than your average white mushrooms and of course I gave these mushrooms a wash before you can easily wash mushrooms it helps you get rid of any of that grit stuck underneath in the cap as long as you're gonna cook them soon after and the only thing we need to do is just to trim off the stem so that it's flush with the cap all right so the scallions are gonna cook at the same rate as the shrimp but the peppers and the mushrooms they're gonna take a bit longer so rather then overcook the shrimp while waiting for these guys to cook through on the grill we're gonna Park cook them in the microwave before we make this goers you want to microwave these in batches so the peppers will take about 2 batches but the mushrooms you can do all in one batch and you just want to line a plate with a double layer of paper towel we're gonna arrange the pepper skin side down and before you microwave them you just want to sprinkle them with a little salt about 1/8 of a teaspoon that seasons the vegetables but it also helps to draw up some of that moisture all right so now we're gonna microwave these and the peppers take about two minutes and the mushrooms take 3 minutes and then after that's all done we're gonna let them cool and we'll come back and get your in all right so I finished microwaving all the vegetables and then I drained the shrimp and now I'm just gonna Pat them dry because you don't want wet shrimp going on the grill cuz it won't get very Brown that seems pretty good now it is time to get skewing all right so grab shrimp take a little mushroom and Nestle it right into the shrimp curve all right that cute what that is it's like a shrimp button he's gonna slide the skewer through now take a couple pieces of scale you know if using the scallion white part just use one if using the greens use two or three and go put that down on top take two pieces of pepper one after the other you gotta go that's kind of pretty it is pretty and we're gonna do this three times but the thing I really want to point out here is look how flat that skewer is that means we're gonna be able to get a good sear on this side and a good sear on that side and that's why we cut the vegetables the way we did that's why you're being so precise mm-hmm this makes eight yours total and here I have some vegetable oil I'm just gonna brush them lightly on each side all right now we're gonna season with a little bit of pepper don't want them too spicy and these babies are ready for the grill fantastic all right so that grill has been heating up for about 15 minutes with all the burners on high and it's time to get going so first thing I'm gonna do of course is clean the grill and we always like to do this before we start cooking get any of that big done cut off and get a nice clean grill grates now we're gonna take a little vegetable oil and rub it evenly over the grill grates helps get up any dust and helps keep those grill grates nonstick over time so our grill is nice and clean and well oiled and it's time to cook our kabobs now obviously it is cooked through really fast it takes about five-and-a-half to six minutes total so it's about two and a half minutes aside so as is always the case with gas grilling you want to grill with lid down so that traps all that heat all right so it's been two and a half minutes Oh smells so good does smell good doesn't it oh I look at those shrimp nice a little bit of char some golden grill marks of course we're just gonna flip them over so that's that second flat side down all right so I'm going to put the lid down then we're gonna go for another two to three minutes sounds good so it's been about two minutes let's take a look oh don't they look gorgeous they do be nice and charred and brown on the second side does that mean they're done that means they're done thank you my darlin mmm these are just some of the prettiest skewers they are beautiful mmm all right I'm gonna turn off the grill and I'll meet you inside sounds good so before we dive into these gorgeous looking skiers I'm gonna whip together just a quick vinaigrette it adds a little burst of flavor right before serving so this is 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and to that I'm going to add 1/4 cup of lemon juice and I'm gonna add 2 teaspoons of freshly minced thyme one clove of garlic I'm gonna use a garlic press to help get that right into the bowl quickly 1/2 a teaspoon of salt quarter teaspoon of Dijon and last but not least eighth of a teaspoon pepper this is just gonna add a really bright kick to the shrimp skewers just before you serve all right so there you go how are you I'm gonna put a little bit of vinaigrette on top how do you eat your scare I'm dee skewer you Dee skewer I'm gonna need your than two hmm those peppers are perfectly done I'm gonna go right for the star of the show the shrimp and I love that the shrimp are juicy and they taste like shrimp they're not covered up with too much dry rub or marinade I love this Julia you've proven that shrimp and vegetables can play together nicely on a skewer so thank you so shrimp and vegetable kabobs have evolved for the better thanks to modern technology start by brining jumbo shrimp to ensure they stay juicy then Park hook peppers and mushrooms in the microwave nestled those shrimp and vegetables nice and tight on the skewers then grill directly over a high heat until lightly charged finally finish the dish with a quick and bright vinaigrette and there you have it from our Test Kitchen to your kitchen the very best grilled shrimp and vegetable kabobs excellent thanks for watching America's Test Kitchen what you think we'll leave a comment and let us know which recipes you're excited to make or you can just say hello you can find links to today's recipes and reviews in the video description and don't forget to subscribe to our Channel see you later I'll see you later

Channel: America's Test Kitchen

Views: 57,592

Rating: 4.8080001 out of 5

Keywords: grilled kebabs, kebab, grilling, grilled shrimp, grilled shrimp kebabs, grilled vegetable kebabs, how to make grilled shrimp, how to grill shrimp, healthy recipe, grilling recipes, america's test kitchen, americas test kitchen

Id: GPQNpE7Nn04

Length: 9min 24sec (564 seconds)

Published: Thu May 02 2019