Community Voices for Health

By: Guest Blogger, Allison Morgan

 

Now that Spring is here and Summer is fast approaching (Memorial Day is in just a couple weeks!), I love to start looking at all the produce at my farmer’s market and in the grocery stores. And one of my favorite things to do with all that lovely looking produce is to throw it all on the grill. I even get my husband to eat vegetables and fruit if they come off the grill!

One of my favorite recipes is by far the easiest, and it’s great for a refreshing dessert or a side dish:

You take a pineapple (or two), core it into thin slices (or buy a pre-cut pineapple), and  throw it on the grill in a grill basket. We grill it about 6-7 minutes, but just keeping our eyes on it to make sure it gets charred, but not burned. For our pineapples, we don’t add anything else to it. You can put cinnamon or honey on it if you want more of a dessert instead of a side.

Another recipe that is an easy weekend night dinner is kabobs – which the whole family loves helping to assemble. The nice thing about kabobs is you can scavenge in your fridge for leftovers and throw any veggies that are on the verge of going bad on your kabob – just remember to either soak your wooden skewers beforehand or buy some metal grilling sticks.

So take any assortment of protein (chicken, steak, bacon or shrimp) and veggies, and string them together to throw on the grill. I like to pair this with either a salad, or some rice or even some grilled potatoes.

Here is my typical Kabob recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Chicken, cut into cubes

1/2 lb Shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 large red pepper, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 large green pepper, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds

1 yellow squash, cut into 1-inch rounds

1 pt cherry tomatoes

1 cup whole mushrooms

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons Fresh rosemary leaves (or another spice such as oregano)

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat. Soak wooden skewers in water, or use metal skewers. Marinate the chicken, shrimp and veggies by whisking together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, spices and Dijon mustard in a bowl. Divide in half and add the chicken and shrimp in one bowl, and the veggies in another bowl, cover and let stand at least 10 minutes.

2. Start threading the chicken, shrimp and  veggies onto skewers. You can either do all meat skewers and all veggie skewers (safer for kids to stick with the veggie skewers), or you can mix and match.

3. Grill the kabobs, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is done and the vegetables are tender.

4. Remove from grill and serve.