I’ve been celebrating spring pretty hard this past week. We just got back from Florida, where we took a cruise to Mexico. The hubby and I weren’t cruisers before we had kids, but it’s been too hard to resist the draw of not having to deal with logistics (including what to cook for dinner every night) for a few days while getting to soak up some much needed family time. Plus, we got to swim with dolphins in Cozumel, which I equate to the real life equivalent of getting to ride a unicorn over a rainbow made of Skittles. It’s my preteen girl fantasy.
Before we left, the weather had just started to warm up, and on a particularly balmy evening I threw open our patio doors, shed our grill of its winter cover and demanded that it wake up to help me make these grilled shrimp with mango radish salsa.
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The salsa was born out of a few random vegetables we had in our house that I needed to use before we left for our vacation. We had radishes and mango, and I found this Tyler Florence recipe that seemed to perfectly fit the ingredients I had on hand. We’re kind of radish obsessed here at home, and I figured the crunchy spiciness of radish would be a nice flavor contrast with the sweet creaminess of the mangoes we’d just bought.
I also added blood oranges to the salsa because we had them on hand. Do you ever impulse buy produce? I do that all the time. I’ll see some veggie or fruit that has a limited season, like Meyer lemons or Anjou pears or blood oranges, and my hand will plunk them into my cart before my brain has a chance to think about what I can do with them. This is how we ended up with a five-pound bag of blood oranges in our refrigerator.
The grilled shrimp with mango radish salsa also gave me a great excuse to break out some tortilla chips, which my family would eat by the bagful in one sitting if given the chance. The salty crunch of chips and fresh salsa served as exclamation point to our grilled shrimp. This dish is truly a spring break dish — the kind that makes you think you’re driving down to the beach in a convertible with the top down, singing off-key at the top of your lungs to “Nelly” with your best girlfriends.
Ahh, youth. I miss it (but only sometimes).
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grilled shrimp with mango radish salsa
Ingredients
- 2 pounds shrimp (peeled and deveined, tails on)
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Salsa:
- 2 limes
- 2 mangoes (diced)
- 4 to 5 red radishes (diced)
- 2 blood oranges (supremed and cut into segments)
- 2 green onions/scallions (diced)
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves (chopped)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Tortilla chips (for serving.)
- Tools: bamboo skewers
Instructions
- Fill a small baking sheet with water and soak the bamboo skewers.
- In a large gallon ziploc bag, mix together the olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and seal the bag. Rotate the bag a few times in your hands to coat the shrimp in the olive oil and lemon mixture. Put the bag in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours to marinate.
- Heat and oil a grill at 350 degrees. While the grill is heating, start making the salsa. Combine all of the salsa ingredients in a bowl.
- Remove the shrimp from the bag and thread onto the skewers. Grill the shrimp until pink and opaque in the center, about 2-3 minutes per side. Serve immediately with chips and salsa.
- This recipe was inspired by: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/grilled-shrimp-with-mango-lime-and-radish-salsa-recipe.html?oc=linkback
I feel like I could’ve wrotten this post myself! I’ve been tempted to buy the blood oranges at the store for the exact same reason. Also radishes, tortilla chips, and mangos?? Yum!! I’m inspired to take the winter cover off of my grill now 🙂
written** ugh! I hit send before I could fix my typo
Thanks, Ashley! I love the color of blood oranges but can never think of anything to do with them! Hope you enjoy spring!
That looks so fresh and delicious! Takes my mind away from the blizzard outside and makes me think of summer. Lovely, thanks for sharing, Ann!
Thanks, Nicole! Wishing you warm weather soon. 🙂