Grilled Kabobs

On the Fourth of July, what is more traditional than firing up the grill and throwing some dogs or burgers on, serving up some potato salad, and some watermelon?  Why not some kabobs?!

This is one of the simplest, yet most delicious, meals I made while I was home.  It was accompanied by grilled broccoli, grilled pitas, and homemade hummus (next post!) and was probably the most savory meal we ate, despite there being no meat.  Adding meat is so simple and doesn't require any extra preparation.  Tailor them to whatever preferences you have and dive in!  :)  This is a perfect side or main course for any summer evening or BBQ picnic.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Kabobs
1 red pepper (cut into 3/4"-1" pieces)
1 orange pepper (cut into 3/4"-1" pieces)
2 zucchini (cut into 1/4" rounds)
1 red onion (sliced into about 1" pieces)
8 oz mushrooms
meat of choice (if desired - or more veggies if you'd like!)
kabob skewers

Marinade
juice of two lemons
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
3 - 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 - 4 cloves crushed garlic
salt & pepper

Toss everything into a large bowl or ziplock back and marinade for a least two hours.  This is great to make the night before or even in the morning.  The flavor is really enhanced the longer it sits for.

If using wooden skewers, place in water and soak for 20 minutes.  Alternate veggies and meat on skewers.  Place kabobs on grill and cook for about 6-8 minutes per side, flipping once, or until meat is tender, cooked through, and those nice grill marks start to appear.  The best veggie to check is an onion - you'll know the rest of the veggies are done when they are.

Remove from grill and serve!

Pan Seared Pot Roast with Roasted Veggies

Last night we had the great pleasure of having dinner with our wonderful friends Zack and Molly.  They have two beautiful little boys who are filled with energy!  Just after Molly and I finished dinner, all the food was set out on the table, and the boys had  brushed their teeth and were in bed, we suddenly started hearing chanting coming from their bedroom.  "I'm hungry!!!  I'm hungry!!!" sounded from the bedroom.  We all couldn't help but giggle.  We all knew that there was just too much fun going on in the dining room and Connor and Shep didn't want to miss out on a moment of it!  After fetching them from their beds and smothering some bread in raspberry jam, we all sat down and dove in!

Molly and I spent a fun afternoon together, running an errand to the grocery store with the boys, both happily sampling the chocolate covered strawberries without thinking twice.  Browsing the produce section with little chocolate covered faces, we found all the missing ingredients for our oven roasted veggies.

After reseasoning the cast iron skillet and thankfully not making a smokey mess, or causing a major catastrophe in the kitchen...  we were ready to go!  Molly and I embarked on second cooking adventure (our first being Thanksgiving!).

We served this up with a delicious loaf of bread Molly found at Central Market and some garlic butter we made.  Kind of  a heart attack waiting to happen, but really, it's worth it for the flavor!  (The boys even started smothering their roast with the garlic butter).  :)

We topped the evening off with a fresh Mango Strawberry Sorbet (made in the super, awesome ice cream maker - but could easily be made without one!).  A nice contrast to a heavy, rich dessert.  That recipe will come at a later date.  Promise!

(And one little possibly, slightly selfish thing...  I was given the great pleasure of using their nice camera!  All the more reason I can't wait for Nicholas and me to get a new camera.  We're thinking it might be a nice one year anniversary gift for ourselves!).

Pan Seared Pot Roast
1 pot roast (as many or few pounds as you like!)
1 - 3 tbs butter
Worcestershire Sauce
garlic powder
salt & pepper

Heat oven to 325.

Using a cast iron skillet, heat on medium heat, melting butter (more for a larger roast and less for a smaller - we had a 1.6lb roast and used about 1 tbs butter). 

Season the top of the roast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Once skillet is heated,  place seasoned side-down in the skillet and allow to brown for about 45-60 second.  Season the top of the roast at this point, so once the bottom finished searing, you can turn the roast over and sear the recently seasoned side.  While you are not seasoning, toss some Worcestershire Sauce over the roast and into the pan.  Continue to do this until all sides of the roast (including the ends!) have been seasoned and seared.

Once all sides of the roast have been seasoned place roast in the oven, baking 35 minutes per pound and an internal temperature of 135 is reached.

Remove roast from oven and allow to sit for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Serve with horseradish or this homemade "horseradish-like" sauce!

"Horseradish" Sauce
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup freshly grated horseradish root
salt & pepper
crushed garlic (if desired)

To prepare the horseradish root, remove the outside, revealing the white flesh.  Grate flesh.  Combine horseradish root and sour cream together.  Season with salt and pepper, and garlic if you'd like, until you reach your desired flavor!


Oven Roasted Veggies
4 red potatoes (diced)
1 red onion (diced)
2 zucchinis (diced)
4 carrots (diced)
1/4 cup (or more) olive oil
2 - 4 tbs butter
salt & pepper
rosemary

Preheat oven to 325 (this works well if you're baking these while the roast cooks!  You may decide to use a higher temperature if you're not cooking the roast at the same time).

In a glass pan, combine all the veggies together.  Season with salt, pepper, and rosemary.  Drizzle over olive oil and top with butter (amount depend on your preference!).

Bake for 60-75 minutes or until potatoes are soft and cooked fully through.  Serve with roast.

Veggie Fest

This dinner is packed full of veggies and healthy grains (especially if you use whole wheat couscous)!  It can easily be made vegan (with just a few small substitutes) or made meaty friendly with one small addition!

Couscous is a grain that most people don't tend to use, but will give you a chance to feel like you're branching out without too much effort (and if you buy it from the bulk section, it is very reasonably priced).  With these recipes, you can easily adjust them to meet your personal taste buds.  This is a great meal that's light but filling and won't leave you feeling sluggish or stuffed and will help you bring a little "heat" in doors.




Sweet Curry Couscous
1 1/2 cups couscous
1 tbs butter
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup plain yogurt (or coconut milk)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tbs honey (or sugar)
1 tbs curry powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
15 oz can garbanzo beans
1/2 -3/4 cup golden raisins or currents
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
1 cup carrot (shredded)
1/4 - 1/2 red onion (diced)
1 bunch green onion (thinly sliced)

Boil water and add melted butter (or place into boiling water to dissolve).  Place couscous in a large bowl (this is the bowl you'll be adding everything to, so make sure it's large enough!).  Pour boiling water (and butter) over couscous and cover bowl tightly.  Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork.  During this time, prepare the "sauce."  Whisk together yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, honey, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper.  Prepare the veggies, garbanzo beans, and raisins.  Once the couscous is done "cooking," combine all of the ingredients into the large bowl and mix!

You may decide that you want to adjust the proportions of the ingredients or (more acidic, less acidic, spicier by using a hot madras curry powder, sweeter with more honey, etc) have more sauce in general.  You can even swap out certain veggies with bell peppers or white onion with red or omit others (such as the raisins if you don't like their flavor or texture in savory dishes).  You could also substitute cilantro for the parsley for a different flair!

Adjust it to your desires!  This always tastes better the next day after all of the flavors have had a chance to mix together.

Vegetable Kabobs marinade
1/3 cup olive oil
2 lemons
1 lime
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
2-3 cloves of garlic
"pinch" of cayenne pepper
"pinch" of paprika
veggies!
skewers


Use whatever vegetables you like best!  Onions, bell peppers, squash, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc...  Whatever you'll enjoy eating.  :)  Make sure to cut the vegetables into about 1" squares, so pieces are roughly the same size and can cook relatively evenly.  With the amount of marinated that was made, there was a nice bath for the 3 bell peppers and one LARGE red onion!  If you want, add about 3/4-1 of beef, chicken, pork, or even lamb of the mix!

Pour all of your veggies/meat and marinade into a one gallon, resealable bag and let it sit for 2+ hours in the fridge.  This will help to season everything in there nice and well.  Overnight is great as well.  Think of easy dinner will be the next night!

If it's too cold outside for a grill and you don't have an inside grill until for your stove-top, a grooved cast iron skillet is a great option.  Heat your "cooking" element while you prepare your skewers.  If you're using a cast iron skillet and are trying to get those nice "grill marks," try not adding any oil to your skillet.  Cook each skewer until veggies are tender (unless you like a little crunchier!) and/or meat is cooked though.

Enjoy!