Skewers, one of my favorites
I like to do skewers. I used to hate skewers. My problem with skewers, and I'm the only one that I know of that cares, was that the vegetables had to be cooked to oblivion because they were right next to meat that required significantly more cooking time on the same skewer. I have solved this problem and have since become a big fan of skewers.
First, if you are trying to eat healthy you will notice it doesn't take much meat to rack up a bunch of calories. So, recipes with smaller meat portions work well. Skewers let you control meat portions, obviously, but it also gives you more flavor options because you can marinate the meat in one flavor and do the vegetables in another.
For this recipe, I did a red wine vinegar, garlic and shallot marinade on the meat. The meat was just an arm roast (more on that later). The vegetables were squash, bell peppers and mushrooms.
I chopped the meat into cubes and marinated it all day. Then I put it on skewers and got cooking. Meanwhile, the vegetables were chopped and tossed in a bag with some olive oil and a grilled vegetable seasoning I got from Williams Sonoma. I next skewered the vegetables and waited for the meat.
When the meat is done, I put it in a bowl and cover it with tin foil and throw the vegetables on (use a hot pad and a bbq fork to remove the meat from the skewers). If you have little enough food or a big enough grill you can do the last few minutes of the meat and the only minutes of the vegetables together. If you cover the bowl of meaet while waiting for the vegetables, I have found it is always plenty of warm when it comes serving time.
For this particular meal, Amy made some quinoa to go with it. You can do a side or omit it. This is a hearty and good looking meal all by itself. I threw the meat in the vegetable bowl and served. Easy peasy. The vegetables are cooked but crispy and the meat is safely cooked and delicious. Everybody wins (except for the person that believes you HAVE to grill the meat and vegetables on the same skewer).
About using arm roast - I used arm roast. Am I proud of it? No. There were some seriously tough portions. On the other hand, when some friends arrived and had some, they found it to be very tender. I guess the take home message is make sure you trim your meat very well. I think the problem with the roast was, I wasn't liberal enough in my trimming to get all the tough parts out. Otherwise, small cubes and good marinade should resolve any real tenderness issues.
Final thought - Skewers can be VERY versatile. Are you not eating flour? Do fajita skewers, marinate the meat in fajita seasonings, sprinkle vegetables with zesty spices and serve without tortillas. Do your meat in Greek seasonings and have pita-less gyros. Teriyaki marinade and stir fry vegetables can be a low carb version of a teriyaki bowl. I think you get the picture. You have a lot of options and they all taste great if they are freshly grilled.
Enjoy!
First, if you are trying to eat healthy you will notice it doesn't take much meat to rack up a bunch of calories. So, recipes with smaller meat portions work well. Skewers let you control meat portions, obviously, but it also gives you more flavor options because you can marinate the meat in one flavor and do the vegetables in another.
For this recipe, I did a red wine vinegar, garlic and shallot marinade on the meat. The meat was just an arm roast (more on that later). The vegetables were squash, bell peppers and mushrooms.
I chopped the meat into cubes and marinated it all day. Then I put it on skewers and got cooking. Meanwhile, the vegetables were chopped and tossed in a bag with some olive oil and a grilled vegetable seasoning I got from Williams Sonoma. I next skewered the vegetables and waited for the meat.
When the meat is done, I put it in a bowl and cover it with tin foil and throw the vegetables on (use a hot pad and a bbq fork to remove the meat from the skewers). If you have little enough food or a big enough grill you can do the last few minutes of the meat and the only minutes of the vegetables together. If you cover the bowl of meaet while waiting for the vegetables, I have found it is always plenty of warm when it comes serving time.
For this particular meal, Amy made some quinoa to go with it. You can do a side or omit it. This is a hearty and good looking meal all by itself. I threw the meat in the vegetable bowl and served. Easy peasy. The vegetables are cooked but crispy and the meat is safely cooked and delicious. Everybody wins (except for the person that believes you HAVE to grill the meat and vegetables on the same skewer).About using arm roast - I used arm roast. Am I proud of it? No. There were some seriously tough portions. On the other hand, when some friends arrived and had some, they found it to be very tender. I guess the take home message is make sure you trim your meat very well. I think the problem with the roast was, I wasn't liberal enough in my trimming to get all the tough parts out. Otherwise, small cubes and good marinade should resolve any real tenderness issues.
Final thought - Skewers can be VERY versatile. Are you not eating flour? Do fajita skewers, marinate the meat in fajita seasonings, sprinkle vegetables with zesty spices and serve without tortillas. Do your meat in Greek seasonings and have pita-less gyros. Teriyaki marinade and stir fry vegetables can be a low carb version of a teriyaki bowl. I think you get the picture. You have a lot of options and they all taste great if they are freshly grilled.
Enjoy!
Comments