Grilled Herb Shrimp and Savory Avocado Appetizer

My Grilled Herb Shrimp and Savory Avocado Appetizer is great for a football party, New’s Year Eve celebration, or maybe you’re just feeling a tad fancy? It’s a quick and easy appetizer using avocado and shrimp! And it has a very high yum rating too!

I am a big fan of tasty food and I really like a good appetizer. I went into my kitchen, also affectionately known as “The Lab” and whipped up something that made me feel fancy all over. I had a bag of shrimp literally chillin’ in the freezer and thought about how rude I’ve been because I haven’t introduced the shrimp to my backyard grill yet. Talk about oversight. So, I made some herb marinade and a batch of savory avocado with roasted sweet corn and generally made a pig of me, myself, and I.

I haven’t had a lot of sea food this summer so I set about making up for lost time. I got the charcoal going and grilled the marinaded shrimp and toasted some buttered rounds of French bread. Then, slathered those crusty and buttery rounds of aforementioned French bread with the creamy and savory avocado spread. The cherry on top wasn’t a cherry at all, it was a perfectly marinated grilled shrimp. So good, so yum. You so gotta get you some! That rhymed. Well look at me! Get the recipe for this Grilled Herb Shrimp and Savory Avocado Appetizer below.

Grilled Herb Shrimp & Savory Avocado Appetizer

Herb Grilled Shrimp Marinade Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium shallot minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh savory chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black peppercorns or to taste
• 2 pounds of shrimp

Directions:

1. In a food processor add EVOO and prepared herbs. Pulse for 2-3 times.
2. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice, sea salt, and freshly ground black peppercorns and pulse mixture a few more times.
3. Rinse, peel, and devein shrimp and place them in a medium size bowl.
4. Pour marinade over shrimp and toss gently using your fingers to ensure the shrimp are evenly coated.
5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to an hour.
6. After an hour remove the plastic wrap and allow the shrimp to stand a room temperature for 15-minutes.

Hopefully you got a charcoal grill, even a small Hibachi grill will work. Why do I love charcoal grills over propane grills? Is that even a real question? Okay, I will tell you just in case you are on the fence about which to commit to long term. Yes, gas grills are less work. But like the saying goes, “Less work often means subpar food.” Okay, maybe that’s not a real saying but it is my saying. But often enough it is a truism that mostly rings truer than true. Plus, I am a process guy and love and appreciate the work that goes into starting a fire with charcoal. Maybe it is rooted somewhere in my primal DNA. Basically, in my man-mind cooking with charcoal is a Quest For Fire fulfilled.

Cooking with charcoal versus propane is like the difference between driving an automatic versus a stick. You get more control and a feeling of connectivity when driving a manual transmission, and so it is the same when cooking with charcoal, in essence you are the master of the fire. – D. Durand Worthey

When it is all said and done I love cooking foods over charcoal because of the smoky flavor imparted to the food is absolutely incredible.  There is an art to cooking with charcoal too and once you have become adept at it you will enjoy it more and more. I prefer cooking over indirect heat, which simply means not putting your meat directly over the red hot coals. In this case I built up about a two pounds of lump coal with some hickory wood chips. Set it ablaze and nurtured it until the fire was borne.

Grilling Instructions:

1. When the coals were nice and hot I used a brush and coated the grates with olive oil to prevent the shrimp from sticking.
2. Arrange the shrimp several inches from the coals and brush with more marinade if desired. Cook for a 2 -3 minutes per side.
3. Remove shrimp when finished cooking. Overcooked shrimp are tough and chewy and nobody wants that!

Savory Avocado Ingredients:

• 3 ripe avocados
• 2 sweet corn cob kernels
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoon horseradish
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 medium red onion or Spanish onion minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

Directions:

1. Cut the kernels from two cobs of sweet corn.
2. Place a medium skillet over med-high heat and butter. When the butter is melted add the corn kernels and sauté for 3 minutes. Spoon the kernels into a bowl and place it in the refrigerator.
   
3. In a medium size bowl add the flesh of three avocados, EVOO, horseradish, minced garlic, minced red onion, lemon juice, sea salt and freshly cracked black peppercorns.
4. Thoroughly mix using a fork.

To Serve: Cut 1-inch rounds of French bread and brush them with melted butter. Toast on both sides in a hot skillet. Top with the Savory Avocado mixture and Herb Grilled Shrimp.

Print

Grilled Herb Shrimp & Savory Avocado Appetizer

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Servings 8 Servings

Author D. Durand Worthey

Ingredients

• ▢ Herb Grilled Shrimp Marinade Ingredients:
• ▢ 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
• ▢ 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1 medium shallot minced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh savory chopped
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves minced
• ▢ 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black peppercorns or to taste
• ▢ Savory Avocado Ingredients:
• ▢ 3 ripe avocados
• ▢ 2 sweet corn cob kernels
• ▢ 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoon horseradish
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic
• ▢ 1 medium red onion or Spanish onion minced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
• ▢ 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ 1/3 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

Instructions

• Herb Grilled Shrimp Marinade Directions:
• In a food processor add EVOO and prepared herbs. Pulse for 2-3 times.
• Add freshly squeezed lemon juice, sea salt and freshly ground black peppercorns and pulse mixture a few more times.
• Rinse, peel and devein shrimp and place them in a medium size bowl.
• Pour marinade over shrimp and toss gently using your fingers to ensure the shrimp ae evenly coated.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to an hour.
• After an hour remove the plastic wrap and allow the shrimp to stand a room temperature for 15-minutes.
• Savory Avocado Directions:
• Cut the kernels from two cobs of sweet corn.
• Place a medium skillet over med-high heat and butter, when the butter is melted add the corn kernels and sauté for 3 minutes. Spoon the kernels into a bowl and place it in the refrigerator.
• In a medium size bowl add the flesh of three avocados, EVOO, horseradish, minced garlic, minced red onion, lemon juice, sea salt and freshly cracked black peppercorns.
• Thoroughly mix using a fork.
• Serve.

More Shrimp Recipes:

Summer Vegetables Shrimp Fried Rice

Southwest Shrimp Salad with Spicy Honey-Lime Dressing

Seafood Recipes from the Hearth and Soul Hop