Hi all, Sarah here. Welcome to The Blended Blog's first post in the Summer Series! I figured since I kicked off the Spring Fever Series, it would be fitting to also kick off the Summer Series as well. I contemplated what do for the series and I thought what better way to get people excited about Summer than with my favorite summer foods. I know some of you might still be experiencing cold weather, but fear not, summer is right around the corner!

I love nothing more than to turn on the BBQ, sit outside in the nice evening air and enjoy family and friends. Today I'm going to tell you my favorite Summer eats. First up something my family could eat it all day long Honey Lime Shrimp. Seriously people, this shrimp dish is SOOOO good! I've made some small modifications from the original recipe, but it's mostly the same.



What you'll need:

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 Cups of Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons honey
Juice of one small lime, or half a large lime (2-3 T)
Zest of one small lime, or half a large lime
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Dash of black pepper
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (optional, I usually omit)

I like to use a Ziploc bag in a bowl for the marinade. Makes it super easy to hold all of the ingredients while your trying to put everything together.  Put all of the ingredients (minus the shrimp) into the bowl.

Mix the marinade well.


I like to use the frozen shrimp from Costco, so after you defrost them make sure that you really dry them out, I'm talking, use almost a whole roll of paper towels type of drying them out. If there is any moisture it's going to be a little rubbery. At least that's what we have found.


Put the shrimp in the Ziploc bag you just made. Then place in the fridge for 30-90 minutes. I find that anything longer than that the lime starts to "cook" the shrimp. Ideally 45 minutes is the perfect amount of time.


You can cook these on the stove, which I did the first time, but it takes FOREVER!!! 6 shrimp at a time...seriously, forever.


The way to go is on the BBQ! I soak some bamboo skewers in water for about 30 minutes and then put as many shrimp on it as possible, repeat until all shrimp are skewered. So tasty.

My favorite salad to pair this with is a Sweet and Sour Cole Slaw from America's Test Kitchen. Super easy to make and has no mayo in it!



What You'll Need:

Bag of Cole Slaw with Carrots (okay you can cut up your own cabbage too, but who had time for that? I just buy a bag of cole slaw and call it a day...don't kill me)
1 large carrot (if you are cutting your own cabbage, but if you bought the bag, skip this)
1/3 cup of Sugar
2 teaspoons of Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoon of Celery Seed
6 Table Spoons of Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup of Rice Vinegar


Directions:

Put cabbage and carrots into colander set over a medium sized bowl. Mix the sugar, salt and celery seed in with the cabbage.


Let stand until cabbage starts to wilt (1-4 hours)


I actually make a double batch so I put it in several colanders...so it really looks like this:


Once the slaw has rested long enough, drain out the liquid from the bottom ( you will not be using this again). This is how much liquid I got from mine.


Then add the rice vinegar and oil, toss with the cabbage and enjoy! It tastes better if you can let it sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving.



I lessened the amount of sugar, so if you like things really sweet add a bit more sugar.

I love all of the fresh fruit that is out for the summer too, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, nectarines, watermelon. Speaking of which here's a quick video on a cool way to cut watermelon up for your kids. Baby Fox absolutely loves eating it like this, easy and less messy too.


And there you have my perfect Summer Meal: Shrimp, Cole Slaw, Fresh Fruit and some Angel Food Cake with Fresh Strawberries to top it off.

What is your favorite Summer meal?




Sarah is a regular contributor of The Blended Blog. She is an engineer and Mom of 2 just trying to bring out her creative side through her blog, Foxy's Domestic Side.