Orange and Thyme Grilled Shrimp

I have never had luck with growing thyme until this year. I finally read somewhere that the secret to growing it is to use it a lot. Keep it trimmed back and it rewards you with a lovely bushy, spreading little plant. Mine always used to get very woody and have a lot of die off in the winter. But now, the only hard part of growing thyme is using it! And gee..since thyme lends itself to just about every dish you could make, that shouldn't be too difficult, should it?

Hey, guess what??? I haven't bought a magazine in at least a week!! But I did preorder Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life. This is the first cookbook I've ever preordered and I have to say that it feels really good. It brings me a little bit of pleasure to know that in September, a new cookbook is coming my way! It's kind of like my own little present to myself. Where was I going with this...oh yeah, I haven't bought a magazine, so I've been looking through my latest Everyday Food, and one of the recipes I had marked to try was the Orange-and-Thyme Grilled Shrimp. I love this recipe! It's so simple and it really allows the flavors of the ingredients to shine through. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, except that I didn't use light mayonnaise.

Orange-and-Thyme Grilled Shrimp
Serves 4

1 pound large shrimp (about 24), peeled and deveined, tails on
1 ½ teaspoons grated orange zest, plus ½ cup fresh orange juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for grates
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Coarse salt and ground pepper
⅓ cup light mayonnaise

In a shallow dish, combine shrimp, 1 teaspoon zest, ¼ cup juice, garlic, oil, 1 tablespoon thyme, ½ teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper; toss to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or up to 8 hours). Soak eight 8-inch wooden skewers in water 30 minutes before cooking. I marinated in a ziplock bag, but it does look prettier marinating in a shallow dish!

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, remaining ½ teaspoon zest, remaining ¼ cup juice, and remaining 1 teaspoon thyme; season dipping sauce with salt and pepper.

Heat grill to medium; lightly oil grates. Thread shrimp onto skewers, and grill, turning once, until shrimp are opaque throughout, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve shrimp with dipping sauce.

Pretty simple, huh? It's really very good and fresh tasting. This will be my entry this week for Weekend Herb Blogging created by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. It is hosted this week by Archana of Archana's Kitchen.