Grilled shrimp can lend touch of Mexican style to meal

Grilling can be a quick way to get a meal together if you’ve got the right recipe and ingredients at hand.

Here’s a smart recipe that takes only 30 minutes to make and doesn’t let taste get overlooked in the rush to the table. Your speedy dish can still be mouthwatering enough to maintain the cook’s credibility – and a touch of Mexican style will do that for most people these days.

These grilled shrimp tacos are minimal work to prepare, maximum pleasure to eat. Diners can enjoy the combination of seasonings, the creamy texture, spiked with cumin, garlic and lime, tomatillo salsa (ready-made to save time) and shredded cabbage to give crunch.

The recipe is featured in “Real Simple: Meals Made Easy” ($24.95). The cookbook is a well-designed and illustrated collection of some 82 recipes, grouped according to their special advantages, in chapters on one-pot meals, no-shop meals and reliable sides, among others.

Tip from Real Simple’s editors for this recipe: Skewer your shrimp twice – that way, they’ll lie flat on the grill and won’t spin when you turn them. First spear the shrimp through the tail, then bend the shrimp and spear it through the head.

You’ll need to have wooden skewers at hand, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes. The length of skewers available will vary, and there’s no one right size. You might use 12, for example, of the type often bought in a large bag of 50 or so.

The editors don’t specify how many shrimp go on each skewer, either, because the number of shrimp in 1 1/2 pounds may vary slightly. In the end it really doesn’t matter because you’re taking the shrimp and limes off the skewers and placing them onto tortillas. Just alternate lime wedges and shrimp, the editors say.

1/2cup sour cream

3tablespoons mayonnaise

3tablespoons milk

1/2teaspoon ground cumin

3tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 1/2pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

4limes, quartered

1/2teaspoon kosher salt

86-inch corn tortillas

3cups shredded green cabbage

114- to 16-ounce jar green (tomatillo) salsa

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, milk and cumin; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the butter and the garlic.

Heat a grill or broiler. Rinse the shrimp and pat them dry with paper towels. Place the shrimp and lime wedges on the skewers. Brush the shrimp with the garlic butter. Grill or broil until the shrimp are cooked through and the limes are browned, about 3 minutes per side. Season the shrimp with the salt. Transfer to a plate.

Grill or broil the tortillas until warmed, about 30 seconds per side. Place them between clean towels to keep warm. To serve, remove the shrimp from the skewers, divide them evenly among the tortillas, and top each with the cabbage, sour cream mixture and salsa.

Serve the lime wedges on the side.

Makes 4 servings.