Recipe - Steak and Vegetable Kabobs

We had a big crowd for the 4th this year, which was a perfect opportunity to test out our new, extra-large grill by filling it up with Steak and Veggie Kabobs.  This is a favorite summer meal which can be easily adapted to each person's individual preferences.  It's a little early for garden zucchini (so I had to buy it) and I totally forgot to skewer on the fresh pineapple (as you can see in the photo), but all in all the kabobs tasted great served up with a huge pot of Dutch Oven Potatoes, which surprisingly, were entirely consumed.  Guess everyone was hungry!  If you'd like to see my marinade recipes for the steak and veggies along with photos, scroll to the end of the post.

Here's the Dutch Oven Potatoes.  Perhaps everyone already knows how to make these, but I may share them in a future post. 

Steak and Veggie Kabobs

2 pounds boneless Sirloin Steak or London Broil
½ cup Soy Sauce
¼ cup Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/4 cup shredded Onion
1 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
3 minced Garlic Cloves
Scant ½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup ketchup

-Get out everything you need to make the marinade.

-Peel and mince garlic and shred onion. 

Note:  Enlarge the recipe as much as needed for the number of pounds of steak you are doing. 
I had to increase the basic recipe by 4 times to make enough for my guests, so the ingredients will look like more than you will need.

-Measure the ingredients and whisk everything together well. 

-Cut steak into evenly sized square chunks.

-Pour over the meat, lifting the pieces so it goes underneath and surrounds and covers all the pieces well.

-Place in fridge in a tightly covered container overnight or from morning until evening--let marinate no more than 24 hours.

Note:  Sometimes I do the veggies on the same skewers as the meat, alternating the meat with mushrooms, onions, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash (if it’s summer), and fresh pineapple, and sometimes I separate everything onto different skewers for more even cooking.  Either way works fine, but the person at the grill has to be on their toes to get everything done at the same time.  The marinated chunks of meat cook quite quickly, so unless the grill is really full, the whole process doesn’t take very long.  I either use my metal skewers, or if I use wooden ones, I soak them for several hours before so the wood doesn’t burn on the grill.  Sometimes I steam the veggies very briefly before skewering them to give them a head start (and to keep them from cracking when I skewer them), then brush with an Italian-type salad dressing and any desired seasonings while cooking.

A second method, shown below, is to place the prepared vegetables in a large bowl and pour a homemade marinade over, and in that case I don't steam them ahead of time.

-Prepare the vegetables by washing and cutting into generous sized chunks, but no so big they won't get done. 

Mix up the marinade for the veggies (see recipe below). 

Whisk up the marinade, pour it over the vegetables, and refrigerate--no more than a few hours.

About a half-hour before you are ready to grill, remove the meat from the fridge and drain off the marinade.  Discard it (the marinade I mean).

On either metal or wood skewers (if wood, soak in water 2 hours before), alternate the meat and vegetables OR do them separately if desired.

I forgot to add my pineapple to the skewers, but if you use pineapple, do not marinate them with the vegetables.  Either put them on plain, or press on some brown sugar first, which gives them a sweet, caramelized flavor (especially if you are grilling them on separate skewers, as I did).

Place any leftover meat or vegetables onto additional skewers.  Turn frequently while cooking.

Marinade for Veggie Kabobs

2/3 cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried or 1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil

1 teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon Black Pepper

Mix together and pour over cleaned, cut vegetables.  The vegetables should be in quite large chunks as shown in the photo.