Kebabs - fast, healthy grilling!

For healthy, fast grilling, consider kebabs.   Easy, right?  You thread cubes of your chosen protein, beef, chicken, pork, lamb, sausage, jumbo shrimp, whatever, along with cut up vegetables onto skewers, marinate if you wish, and then grill.

The only problem is that the meat is overcooked and the vegetables are undercooked, or the other way around.   Why? Well, the reason is that different things cook need to cook for different times.  You can solve the problem a couple different ways, for example, you could precook the vegetables, especially the zucchini or squash.   Then, however, the vegetables get soft before you put them on the skewers so they won't stay on the skewers as well, and anyway, it’s just too much work; it’s supposed to be easy.

Easy solution - First of all select non-meat items for the skewers that don't have to be cooked completely soft to be good…onions, peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, are examples.  Save the carrots and squash for something else.

Next, use small pieces. Ideally, your chunks of meat should be about 1- 1/2 inches square. Make the vegetables about this size, too.

Once you have your vegetables selected and everything properly cut up you can think about a marinade.  You can marinate the meat separately, or together with the vegetables.  For ease, I like to put it all into a Ziploc bag, and then put the meat and vegetables on the skewers afterwards.   It’s messier, but I’m usually doing a bunch, and I find I can use less marinade this way than trying to get enough marinade to cover them in a dish.   I also like to use a dry seasoning, too, like a steak seasoning.  Weber makes a nice variety of flavors; Chicago Steak is one of my favorites.

For the kind of skewers, it really doesn't matter. I like bamboo skewers because they are cheap, don’t have to be washed afterwards, but you do need to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before using so they won't catch on fire on the grill. Metal skewers are OK but they get really hot, and then, they have to be washed – not my idea of cleanup. I like to not start or end with things like onions or peppers because they tend to dry and shrink on the grill and that can make them slide, especially on metal skewers. I usually end with a piece of meat because it holds on to the skewer a little better.

If you are really picky about how things are done, try grilling the meat on vegetables on separate skewers, that way you can really control the doneness factor exactly to your liking.   This is important if you like your steak or lamb medium rare; which can be too hard to gauge on a skewer with other things cooking, too.

When you grill, be sure your grill is preheated to high, and keep a close eye on things.  Because the meat is small, it won’t take as long, just a few minutes per side.   Use the lid, too, to keep the heat in, but do check frequently to avoid burning.   Have some long tongs and a platter ready, again, it won’t take long.

We like to serve our kebabs with either a rice pilaf or a couscous mixture, for variety.  Some grilled flatbread or French bread, brushed with a bit of olive oil first, is nice too.

Enjoy your grilling this week!