Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Vegetable Beef Kabobs

Full of vegetables, I wanted a mild beef flavor that wouldn't overpower the combination. I settled for a slightly sweet honey-beer marinade and was fairly happy with the result. The really good part was (of course) the grilled, juicy vegetables dipped in olive oil and thyme.



Makes 6 long kabobs (15 inch skewers**)
2 hours + 30 minutes + grilling time
-small saucepan for meat
-6 long metal or bamboo skewers
-gallon size plastic baggie
-tongs for grilling
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Beef and Marinade
1/2 of a bottle of light-colored GF beer (I used New Grist)
1-2 tbsp. honey-- to taste
dash of dried ginger

1/2 lb. thick-cut steak, any kind
Veggies
1/2 of a medium red onion
8-10 cherry tomatoes
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow zucchini squash
1/2 of a medium green bell pepper
1/2 of a medium red bell pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Beef and marinade
1. Into the saucepan, pour the beer and mix with the honey. Add a dash of ginger, then taste your marinade. If not sweet enough, add in more honey. Could also try some Cayenne pepper for a kick.
2. Wash the steak and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place meat into the marinade. Cover and let sit for 2 to 3 hours in the fridge.
** If using bamboo or wooden skewers, don't forget to soak them in water for a good hour or so before threading and placing on the grill.
Veggies

3. Once the meat has soaked long enough, begin coarsely cutting up the vegetables. Thickly slice the red onion and cut into 1 inch 'squares'. Half the cherry tomatoes. Cut both the zucchini and yellow zucchini into 1/2 inch slices, then half each slice. Thickly slice both the green and red bell peppers and cut into 1 inch 'squares'.
4. Place cut veggies into a large gallon-sized freezer bag. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil; shake to coat veggies. Add thyme and oregano (plus salt and pepper) into the bag. Shake until spices are well distributed. Let sit.
5. At this point, either pre-cook (boil) the beef pieces in the beer marinade for 5-10 minutes. Discard the honey-beer, either way.
6. Skewer the vegetables and meat, alternating and varying along the kabob. There will be much more veggies than meat.
7. Cook kabobs on the grill over open flames until the veggies and meat are toasted and sizzling. My pre-cooked meat kabobs were done within 5-8 minutes over a hot wood-burning fire. Make sure the beef is fully cooked, if you did not pre-boil it. Serve hot, right off the grill, with beans or salad. EDIT: These are not so good re-heated, even in the oven; make sure you eat them hot off the grill.

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