NY Strip Kabobs

It is no question that it is summertime here in the mid-west. For me that means firing up the grill! This time I'm going less traditional than just steaks. My biggest critics, my two and seven-year-old girls, really enjoy my grilled steaks but I want some variety and eye-appeal today. I love kabobs because they look great, appease the critics, taste great and are easy to make!

The first step to making kabobs is picking the vegetables that appeal to your pallet. I chose a medium zucchini, orange and red bell peppers, yellow onion, and my fav portobello mushrooms. The mushrooms turn out sooo flavorful and juicy! I put the mushrooms on without the stem and slice the veggies to a respectable kabob size. (Not too small or they won't stay on the skewer.)

Next the meat. I would suggest a quality meat. Nothing is worse than a beef jerky-tasting kabob! I chose a 1/2 in thick NY Strip because I know that it will turn out medium to medium-well and has minimal gristle. Carve it into roughly half inch cubes. They won't be exact and make sure to cut out the fat or it will make the meat chewy.

Final step before grilling is to randomly skewer the ingredients and add some seasoning. Use what you like but not too much, when grilled to perfection it will have a good flavor naturally. Give the whole kabob a light dusting. My family has an affinity for all-purpose Greek seasoning.
 

Next step is my forte, my wife did the most of the slicing, I'm the grill-master! So the most important thing is to set the flame to just under medium. Place the kabobs on your grill and set a timer for seven minutes. When the timer goes off give them a quarter turn and repeat. This time when the timer goes off give them a quarter turn and set the timer for 3-5 minutes, after this session they should be cooked thoroughly. If you cook the kabobs too fast the meat will be chewy and the veggies will be hard and burnt...uncool.

The zucchini will have a dry appearance on the outside and the edges of the bell peppers and onion will be somewhat burnt when finished. I let my seven year old pick between some summertime sides: mac and cheese, pasta salad or couscous, being the strange child she is we had pasta salad! My wife and I chose a spring mix salad that complimented the kabobs nicely. Surprisingly and a little disheartening, there were no leftovers!

Ingredients:

2lb NY Strip Steak

1 whole red bell pepper

1 whole orange bell pepper

1/2 medium yellow onion

1/2lb portobello mushrooms

1 medium zucchini

1 package of Kabob skewers