Shish Kebabs

Last night we had the grand opening of the backyard grill, officially ushering in the 2013 backyard picnic season.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature had absolutely no regard for our dinner plans.  She unceremoniously dumped buckets of water onto the husband/lover/chef just as he was finishing turning our skewers for the last bit of cooking.  Kinda takes the fun out of grilling, don't you think?

Well, in spite of the unfavorable grilling conditions, our beef shish kebabs were colorful, delicious, and fairly simple to make.

First gather up your ingredients and supplies:

beef meatballs
small red potatoes
cherry tomatoes
one red onion
small mushrooms
one orange or red pepper
one green pepper
barbecue sauce
skewers and a baster brush


Directions:

Let me come clean right here and now and tell you I cheated.  I bought fully cooked meatballs at my local meat market instead of making my own.  I've had them before so I know they're good, and I needed simplicity for tonight.  My feet were killing me, so there.

Cut the peppers and onions into large chunks.  Remove the mushroom stems and wash the mushrooms thoroughly.

Cook the potatoes, peppers, and onions in the microwave for about 3 minutes to soften them up a bit.  Then cut the potatoes into quarters.

Thread the ingredients onto your skewers.  I'm not a fan of those tiny cheapo wooden skewers, because there's barely anything to get a hold of.  Not to mention that they can catch fire in the grill.  My dog eats sticks, not me.  I've invested in a good pair of stainless steel skewers, and I've never regretted the purchase.  Dishwasher safe, too.  That's a win in my book. 

Paint them with barbecue sauce, and grill them, turning them and repainting them every couple of minutes until they are done.

Gosh, it is only now as I write this that I'm noticing I completely forgot to use any of the tomatoes.  Maybe that is my subconscious avoidance of them, as I've never learned to like them.  Interesting too, that my husband didn't even say a thing.  He loves tomatoes.

Poor guy, he was utterly sopping wet after his grill duty.  

I don't even have a final picture - he had the finished shish kebabs onto plates and going into his mouth before I could even get near my camera.  

I'm sure this recipe would work well with chicken pieces too.  Perhaps I'd add a teriyaki sauce instead of barbecue for a delicious alternative.

Today the husband/lover/chauffeur and I leave on our "Seek and Destroy" mission.  We're heading to the southern New Jersey beach area to accomplish our business.

Stay tuned, more on that adventure to come.