Katherine Roberts Shares Italian-Style Grilled Shrimp Recipe for Hot Valley Evenings

Aspen —The heat in the valley has settled into a heavy, static hum, the kind that makes the air feel thick enough to chew. It is the sort of temperature that turns the kitchen into a sauna and the car into an oven, forcing locals to seek refuge in the shade with a box fan pointed directly at their faces. For many, the solution isn’t a new air conditioning unit, but a shift in strategy — moving the cooking outdoors and relying on ingredients that don’t require a trip to the grocery store in a steaming vehicle.

Katherine Roberts, a mid-Valley writer and marketing professional, has found her answer in a recipe that bridges the gap between simple summer sustenance and something slightly more sophisticated. In her latest column for the Aspen Times, Roberts details an Italian-style barbecued shrimp that she describes as "sweet and savory," a dish that comes together in minutes and offers a reprieve from the sweltering indoor heat.

The recipe, adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’s Giadzy website, relies on a marinade that creates a "beautifully sweet and savory, almost blackened coating" on the crustaceans. It is a meal designed for efficiency, utilizing spices likely already sitting in a neighbor’s pantry — light brown sugar, kosher salt, hot smoked paprika, dried oregano, fennel seed, and black pepper. The preparation is straightforward: toss one pound of large, peeled, and deveined shrimp with the spice mix and olive oil, then refrigerate for about an hour, though Roberts notes that twenty minutes will suffice if time is short.

Grilling the shrimp takes only three minutes per side over medium heat, resulting in meat that is browned and opaque all the way through. Roberts suggests serving the dish warm or at room temperature, a flexibility that suits the erratic rhythm of a hot summer evening. The dish is not meant to stand alone, however. Roberts pairs it with grilled asparagus, tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper and cooked on medium-high heat for about ten minutes, and a pot of polenta enriched with parmesan cheese. She recommends Bob’s Red Mill brand for the polenta, a specific detail that grounds the advice in the reality of local grocery aisles.

The result, according to Roberts, is an "elegant, easy, super-fast and delicious dinner" perfect for dining al fresco. It is a meal for when the kitchen temperatures match "the seventh circle of hell," allowing folks to eat outside without sweating through their clothes before the first bite. The column acknowledges the practicalities of summer cooking in the region, noting that the recipe can be doubled or tripled for a crowd, provided everyone brings their own miniature fan on a lanyard to maintain their personal chill.

Roberts, who writes from the mid-valley, frames the recipe as a response to the relentless heat. She notes that she has said much the same thing in previous food columns, emphasizing that the repetition is necessary because the heat is persistent. This recipe serves as both a culinary instruction and a survival tactic for residents who find themselves wandering from room to room with shades drawn, waiting for the sun to dip low enough to make grilling a viable option.

The final image is one of relief and simple pleasure: a plate of blackened shrimp, tender and spiced, sitting alongside charred asparagus and creamy polenta, accompanied by an ice-cold glass of white wine. It is a meal that respects the limits of the human body in high heat, offering nourishment without the ordeal of standing over a stove. The column closes on the note of a writer hoping her rain dances are paying off, a small, personal touch that reminds readers that even in the face of relentless summer warmth, there is still room for a bit of magic, and a lot of patience.