Grilled Shrimp with Roasted Garlic-Cilantro Sauce 31 min de préparation/cuisson, pour 4

A top Mediterranean recipe that will win you over! Shrimp (prawns) charred and dressed in a roasted garlic-cilantro sauce with a hint of chili, white wine and lemon juice! Great appetizer or serve it for dinner with rice or your a favorite pasta! 

Happy Friday! Hope you’re enjoying the holidays. It’s the day after Christmas which means, for many, it’s a day marked with laziness and food-hangover. No judging here.  My kiddos are sleeping in, and this gives me a brief chance to share with you one of my favorite grilled shrimp recipes: grilled shrimp with roasted garlic-cilantro sauce. You might like to make this for New Year’s Eve; just sayin!

I told you earlier that this was going to be a quiet Christmas; just the four of us. But that is about to change in a couple of hours. My brother and his family from Toronto have decided, last-minute, to brave the drive of 16 hours and be with us for a few days. I am over-the-moon excited to see my only sibling; the older and much wiser one  We don’t see each other enough; and we have not spent the holidays together as a family in many many years!

I have such memories of our Christmases together as children. The holidays were different back then. I am sure they were not perfect, but my memories are only happy ones. Growing up, Santa was not as popular in Egypt, nor was the Christmas tree. But my brother and I still received gifts from Santa. Because we didn’t have a tree, our clever Santa left us each a gift at the foot of the bed. Ah the feeling of kicking my legs in the morning only to find a special little surprise! I smile every time I think about that.

Even though today, in my own home, we do have a Christmas tree and all, our Santa still leaves one gift at the foot of the bed for each of my girls. Some traditions are worth carrying on, don’t you think?

Since my brother is on his way, I was thinking about dishes he would enjoy. We are both seafood fans- can’t avoid that if you grew up on the Mediterranean! My mind immediately went to shrimp, prawns in particular. Let me just make a small confession: I refuse to buy the usual ring of ready shrimp cocktail. To me, shrimp is so easy to make; and I just prefer it fresh.  Prawns are larger and more expensive, but you can make this recipe with a smaller shrimp. Adjust grill time; of course. And because it is freezing here, I used an indoor cast-iron grill similar to this one. A griddle or pan would work fine.

Now this shrimp recipe comes with a different kind of sauce. It starts with garlic, roasted just enough to tame the raw garlicy taste, while bringing to life a great earthy flavor. I chose to go with cilantro, lime juice and wine; but non-cilantro lovers can go for a different fresh herb like dill or parsley.

LET’S GET STARTED AND MAKE THIS GRILLED SHRIMP RECIPE!

Print-friendly recipe to follow…

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (you’ll need the oven to roast the garlic).

Peel, devein and rinse the prawns. Pat dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Place the prawns in fridge until ready to grill.

Trim top of the garlic head off; leave the garlic intact and do not peel.  Drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast the garlic in the 400 degrees F-heated oven for about 10-15 minutes or until slightly tender and fragrant. When ready, remove from oven. Let cool briefly. Peel and crush or chop the garlic finely.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic with the cilantro leaves, lemon juice, white wine and chili sauce (or chili flakes). Whisk together and set aside.

When ready, heat a cast-iron grill or griddle to medium high. Dress the prawns with some olive oil and grill for 3-4 minutes or so on each side. You want to achieve some char, but be careful not to overcook.

Remove from heat and coat the prawns with the roasted garlic and cilantro sauce. Alternatively, serve the sauce on the side instead.

This shrimp is great served tapas-style with your favorite bread and other small plates like thisfattoush salad, creamy hummus, fried eggplant and green peppers, or warm bruschetta. Browse our “Small Plates” section for more ideas.

This shrimp dish is also perfect for dinner with rice and vegetables!  Or, do it Italian-style and add pasta! Simply make more of the sauce (double or even triple the amount) and toss the extra sauce into the just cooked pasta.

4.7 from 11reviews

GRILLED SHRIMP WITH ROASTED GARLIC-CILANTRO SAUCE

 

SAVE PRINT

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

16 mins

TOTAL TIME

31 mins

 

Author: The Mediterranean Dish

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 lb uncooked prawns
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
  

Roasted garlic-cilantro sauce:

• 1 small head garlic, top trimmed off
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 lime, juice of
• 1 tbsp dry white wine
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp chili sauce (or 1 tbsp dry chili flakes)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Peel, devein and rinse the prawns or your choice of shrimp. Pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Place the prawns in the fridge until ready to grill.
3. Trim the top of the garlic head off, but leave the garlic intact. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast the garlic in the 400 degree F-heated oven for about 10-15 minutes or until slightly tender and fragrant. When ready, remove from the oven. Let cool briefly. Peel and crush or chop the roasted garlic as finely as possible.
4. Now prepare the roasted garlic-cilantro sauce. In a small bowl, combine the roasted garlic with the remaining sauce ingredients of cilantro, lime juice, white wine, olive oil and chili sauce. Whisk together and set aside.
5. When ready, lightly oil and heat a cast-iron grill or griddle to medium-high. Dress the prawns with a little olive oil and grill for 3-4 minutes on each side. You want to achieve some char, but be careful not to overcook the prawns.
6. Remove the prawns from the grill to a bowl and coat well with the roasted garlic and cilantro sauce. Transfer to a serving platter. Alternatively, transfer the grilled prawns to a serving platter and simply add the roasted garlic-cilantro sauce on the side.
7. Serve with pasta or rice and a green salad for dinner; or simply as a party appetizer. Enjoy!

NOTES

This is great warm or at room temperature.

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Looking for more seafood recipes? Here are some more favorites

Easy Seafood Paella. Super easy, I promise!

Baked Shrimp Stew, a saucy dish from the Holy Land

15-Minute Baked Sole Filet with capers, green onions and a buttery lime sauce

Mediterranean-style Oven Baked Salmon in Foil!

grilled chicken

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30 Minute Healthy Kickin' Cajun Chicken and Rice

Not that I do not love salads, because I do! I have one coming your way, but just not today. I hope you do not mind, but I thought I would ease you guys into January with Gerard family healthy comfort food.

Chicken and rice. It is honestly more comforting to me than a lot of really cheesy, heavy dishes. It’s just what I grew up on, so I think I can come up with probably like a million different ideas involving chicken and rice.

Anyway, I was this close (as I pinch my fingers together like you can actually see me or something) to posting a salad today, but then I stopped myself. I figured probably everyone and then some would be posting salads today. It is January second and everyone knows the diets start today.

Personally, I do not diet – exercise, moderation and healthy lifestyle changes are more my style. Therefore, my New Year’s goal is simply to create a killer year of food for you guys. A year that includes one delicious recipe after the next. I hope that many will be healthy and delicious, and that others are super indulgent and over the top, because let’s be honest, you know I love those. But mainly, I hope most will be colorful, homemade, simple and easy meals that you guys will all want to create. Meals that you will enjoy making and that will be even more enjoyable to eat.

I am not a New Year’s resolution person at all, but I love setting goals and my number one goal this year – create amazing recipes!

Number two goal?

Well, this one goes right along with number one. Create amazing recipes – with photos that do each recipe justice. Both goals are challenging in their own way, but I do seem to love to stress myself out. I guess it is just what I do.

Since we are on the topic of recipes and goals, what are your goals for 2014. The one thing you hope to achieve, or at least improve on? Really, we always talk about me and my weird, totally untraditional family. So let’s get to know each other a little, I would love to know a little more about you guys!

And I mean please tell me, what are some of your favorite foods, cooking methods and recipes? Anything you would like to see me cook in this new year?

Well for now, we are talking chicken and rice.

Don’t go getting all bored on me yet, chicken and rice doesn’t have to be boring. This chicken and rice is spiced up, stir fried, cajun chicken and veggies tossed together with a mix of basmati and wild rice.

If you are trying to go completely whole grain just use all wild rice, but my family has a serious soft spot for basmati. It is our favorite.

It is super simple and super quick, but I am coming to realize that not every meal needs to be complex and over the top. It is still a hard thing for me to grasp since I really love a variety of textures, colors and flavors, but like everyone always says, often simple is really all you need.

Especially when life is crazy busy and it is back to work and the real world after two weeks of pure holiday awesomeness.

Ugh. The real world? Yikes.

30 Minute Healthy Cajun Chicken and Rice.

Print

Ingredients

• Rice
• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 3/4 cup basmati rice
• 2 1/2 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
• Cajun Chicken and Peppers
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
• 1 tablespoon creole seasoning
• 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 1 large orange pepper, chopped
• 1/2 a onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped, plus more for garnish

Instructions

To start the rice. Add the water to a medium size soup pot. Bring to a low boil and then add the rice and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine and then place the lid on the pot and turn the heat down to the lowest setting possible. Allow the rice to cook ten minutes on low and then turn the heat off completely and let the rice sit on the stove, covered for another 20 minutes (don't take any peeks inside!). After 20 minutes remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork. Note that rice can cook differently for everyone, this is just what works for me.

Meanwhile heat a large skillet on medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. In a small bowl combine the cajun seasoning, creole seasoning, brown sugar, pepper, cayenne, sweet paprika and dried thyme.

Add the chicken and the spice mixture to the skillet and give it a good toss. Then spread the chicken in an even layer and allow it to cook, without stirring for 2-4 minutes. Then stir the chicken and add the soy sauce, continue cooking another 5 minutes or until the chicken is browned all over and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet. Add the red pepper, orange pepper, onion and garlic. Stir fry the veggies for about 5-10 minutes or until the onions are soft. Add the chicken back to the skillet and toss well. Now stir in the diced tomatoes and simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and add the chicken mixture to the rice. Toss well and serve! Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.

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Cooking Light Diet

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