Sometime you just want an easy and super-tasty grilled summer dinner and these kabobs are perfect. Aside from thinking ahead for the marinade, it’s a pretty simply recipe and full of amazing flavor.
The key here is to get the meat nice and marinated in something that will caramelize well on a hot grill and to grill the meat separately from the veggies, so you can better control the cook. This recipe makes two good sized portions.
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1/4 C EVOO
- 1/4 C soy sauce
- 3 T red wine vinegar
- 1/4 C honey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 T minced fresh ginger
- 1 T dijon mustard
- 1 t Worcestershire sauce
- 1 t freshly ground pepper
Kabobs
- 12 ounces trimmed beef, cut into 1” cubes (we used tenderloin)
- 1/2 red onion, cut in wages
- Red or yellow bell pepper, cut in 1” pieces
- 1/2 zucchini, thick sliced
- 8-10 cherry or grape tomatoes
- wooden skewers
Rice
- 1/2 C rice (basmati or jasmine)
- 1 C chicken broth
- 1 T ghee (can sub butter or EVOO)
- 1/4 t turmeric
- 1/4 t paprika
- 1/4 t onion powder
- 1/4 t granulated garlic
- 1/4 t salt
Dipping Sauces
- 1 T mayonaise
- 1 T sour cream
- 2 T dill
- Kick Ass Sauce
After breakfast on the weekend is the perfect time to make the marinade. Cube your beef and start your wooden skewers soaking in some water. Mix together the marinade ingredients in a large freezer baggie and toss in your meat cubes and massage to coat. Put back in the fridge and let marinate for four to six hours.
Pro tip: You don’t want to use metal skewers for the meat because they will heat up and cook the meat too quickly inside.
It’s also a great time to mix up whatever sauces you want. I like the dill mayo sauce – just mix the ingredients together in a small bowl and keep in the fridge until ready to eat. Susan likes the Kick Ass Sauce from our Lettuce Wrap recipe.
When it’s time to cook, the first step is the rice. Melt the ghee in a saucepan over medium heat and toss in the rice and toast it up a bit (like the first step in risotto). Add in the chicken broth and spices, stir and cover and get to a low simmer – it’ll take about 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. When that happens, pull from the heat and keep covered until ready to serve.
Next, it’s time to skewer your ingredients. As I said above, we separate the meat the the veggies for better control when cooking (they’ll take longer than the meat). I use two skewers for a veggie kabob – it keeps the veggies from spinning when you try to cook them. Once on the skewers, I brush with EVOO and sprinkle generously with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.
After I get the meat on the skewers (I only use one skewer per meat kabob), I let rest and get up to room temperature as I preheat the grill.
I put the veggies on first for a couple of turns and let them char and then toss on the meat skewers. Put the meat on the hot part of the grill for a few moments on each side to get some caramelization (from the honey in the marinade). I’m going for a medium rare on the meat, so that’s about 131 degrees for us.
When done, pull the kabobs from the grill. Plate the rice and either lay the veggies and meat kabobs over the rice or pull the delicious chance off the skewers. Service with a side of sauce and a nice glass of tasty wine and you are ready for an awesome summer meal!
This recipe scales up very well and since the actual cooking time is so quick, it’s awesome for a grill out dinner party.
