Grilled Shrimp with Asian Pesto

You know how they say never test a new recipe on guests?  Well, I tested this on guests and luckily they loved it!  I was inspired by Ming Tsai’s recipe and the wonderful Thai ingredients like roasted peanuts, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, lime juice, cilantro, Thai basil, and mint that I put in a food processor and drizzled oil to make pesto.  I tossed shrimp with some olive oil and garlic and quickly grilled them in the grill basket on the barbeque.  I drizzled some of the pesto over the shrimp and used the remaining pesto as a dipping sauce.  This would also be great tossed as a salad with red pepper, and red onion.  You could buy already cooked shrimp and save that step if you want but I suggest buying it in the freezer section.  Unless you live in a place where shrimp is being caught live and is a big industry, it is usually flash frozen because it is so perishable.  I always buy mine frozen either in the shell or shelled and deveined because you know it is fresher and hasn’t been sitting on top of ice for days.  The grocery stores just thaw the shrimp and put it in their case and the consumer has no idea how many days it has been sitting there.  To guarantee freshness which is so important with seafood, buy it frozen and dethaw in the refrigerator overnight.  Click here for the recipe….