A grilled shrimp feast, best enjoyed outdoors
Summer is the best time to eat outdoors, and when eating outside coincides with cooking outdoors, so much the better.
Still, there’s prep work to be done inside, and in some cases, as in this menu, you can do the prep, or a large part of it, a day in advance. Then, when you are gathered for the picnic — a meal outdoors is always a kind of picnic, whether eaten at a table or perched on a rock — all you have left to do is light the barbecue.
A salad is important, especially at an outdoor meal; you want something fresh. Though potato salad or fruit salad may come to mind, a crisp green salad never fails to satisfy.
This one features Little Gem lettuce, a cross between romaine and butter lettuce that has become a popular salad choice — crunchy and bright green with small crinkly leaves. The tart, garlicky dressing that accompanies is made with crushed toasted almonds and sherry vinegar, and is best transported in a jar with a tightfitting lid. (You can mix the dressing in the jar as well.)
For our picnic, fat, fresh wild shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico (and the Atlantic coast off the Carolinas and Georgia) were the most exciting option at my fishmonger’s shop.
She gets them in weekly, but wild shrimp are also available frozen.
I like the larger ones for grilling, but any size is fine. I don’t peel them — I just thread them shells-on onto bamboo skewers and lay them on a hot grill for a few minutes per side.
This method not only ensures that the shrimp stay juicy, but it also makes eating them more fun, letting you nibble on the crispy little legs before “undressing” them.