There's definitely a chill in the air these days, but that doesn't mean that Mother Nature doesn't bless us with warm, nearly transcendently lovely days now and then. When that happens, I reach for my aluminum foil and my grill to put together quick, easy foil pillow dinners. And my absolute favorite is one inspired by summer's favorite treat: a shrimp boil.
Gardens are starting to move into the season of potatoes, winter squash, and onions, but that doesn't mean there's no corn to be had anymore. This is a perfect meal for using up those one or three cobs still on the stalks. Add some of those taters and garlic and you've got the veggie part of this meal handled. Then work in some shrimp, sausage, butter, and some seasonings and the rest of the choir has been assembled.
You can skip lemons at the end, but I like the brightness they bring to the table. You could also add some fresh herbs (parsley is particularly nice) to the mix too, although I didn't contemplate that this time around until dinner was just a memory!
Grilled Shrimp Boil
- ½ lb. potatoes
- 2 ears corn on the cob, cleaned and each ear cut into 3 rounds
- ½ lb. raw shrimp, thawed, peeled, and deveined
- 8 oz. smoked sausage, cut into small pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 T. butter, melted
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 T. seafood seasoning
- lemon slices, for garnish
Prepare the grill for direct cooking at 400° F.
Prepare 3 large heavy duty foil sheets (measuring 1' x 1'); set aside.
Scrub the potatoes and microwave them until nearly full cooked (3-4 minutes in most microwaves); carefully cut into bite-sized pieces. In a large mixing bowl, combine the corn, shrimp, sausage pieces, garlic, and potatoes.
Add the melted butter to the shrimp mixture. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, and seafood seasoning; stir until thoroughly combined.
Divide the shrimp mixture ingredients between the two aluminum foil sheets. Wrap the foils tightly around the ingredients and seal.
Place the packets directly on the grill and cook for 15 minutes, flipping once halfway through cooking. Remove from the grill.
Carefully open up the packets, garnish with lemon; serve and enjoy!
- Yields: 2 servings
- Preparation Time: 20 minutes