Grilled Shrimp and Scallop Kabobs

I know you've heard me do nothing but complain about our horrible Canadian winters. And it's true. The older I get, the less tolerant of them I become. That's why so many Canadian Seniors bail out and head to Florida and warmer climates during the winter months. Snowbirds they call them. BUT, you've never heard me talk about how mad with excitement we become on the first nice day of Spring! Now "nice" being relative. Today the sun came out and the temperature went up to 5 degrees Celsius. Not very warm if you live in nice parts of the world, but a veritable heatwave for us! There was a lady in the nail salon wearing white jeans today. Not to be too judgy, but it really is too soon for that. But who am I to say since I selected a pastel pink called Cotton Candy to have my nails painted in? And as I drove through town, all the guys in town were wearing muscle shirts and flip flops. Again, too much too soon since there is still snow on the ground, and plenty of it! But it is right to say that we all have the Spring Fever and I practically burst out through the front door this morning to be a part of this beautiful day!

And when I got to the grocery store, I was practically skipping through the aisles to find spring food to make for dinner. No more pots of stew or soup or chili for this girl! Before I left the house, I checked the propane tank to make sure nothing was going to spoil the grilled food I planned to eat today. Sadly, there was no fresh shrimp available today, which I kind of had my heart set on. Not to be daunted, I got fresh scallops and since I've been eating frozen everything all winter, frozen shrimp would have to do. In the produce section, I found some amazing looking sweet red peppers from Mexico and also the happiest looking jalapeno pepper I ever saw, which practically jumped into my cart saying "take me home and make something delicious out of me!" Okay. Let's make some grilled seafood!

Depending on how many people you're serving, you'll need:
Jumbo fresh raw shrimp if you can get it. (or frozen jumbo if you live in the tundra like me) Plan on 3 or 4 shrimp per person.
Fresh scallops. 3 per person should do it
Bamboo skewers
And for the marinade:
4 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1 chopped jalapeno pepper
1/2 cup of olive oil
juice and zest of 1 lemon and 1 lime
1 good splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne
lots of freshly ground pepper
Put everything into a ziplock bag and marinate in the fridge for 5 or 6 hours

Soak your skewers in water for 30 minutes and thread all the seafood on
Grill on Medium High heat just until the shrimp turns pink and the scallops are golden brown. Turn them often so they don't burn.
I served this with rice pilaf and roasted red pepper and goat cheese canapes. I'll make a separate blog for the canapes so you don't get too bored with me! Happy Spring friends!