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Tasty, Beautiful, Healthy: Grilled Veggie Kebabs

More from our recent camping trip…veggie kebabs are crunchy and fresh accompaniments to all that heavy meat you are throwing on the grill. They are fun to make and fun to eat and look beautiful on a picnic table. The marinade has just five ingredients…the taste of summer produce shines through!

Bright and beautiful, these kebabs are sure to be a favorite of campers and grill-lovers!

VEGGIE KEBABS

Dozen wooden skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes (soak them as you cut vegetables)

MARINADE

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 generous tsp oregano

2-3 tsps fresh lemon juice

2 generous pinches salt

VEGGIES

About 2 lbs quick-cooking mixed vegetables such as

1 Cup grape or cherry tomatoes (whole)

1 Cup green/red/yellow/orange peppers, cut into 1” squares

1 medium zucchini, sliced into rounds

1 medium yellow squash, sliced into rounds

8 oz. button mushrooms, wiped cleaned, stems trimmed and cut in half top to stem

(eggplant is not recommended for a mixed kebab as it takes much longer to cook; in general, stay away from dense vegetables for this)

Whisk together all marinade ingredients and place in a resealable 1-gallon plastic storage bag (or put them in the bag, seal, and shake vigorously until combined). Put all the vegetables in the bag, seal and shake to coat thoroughly. Let marinate at least 20 minutes. Get the grill going.

Now for the messy part. Spear mixed veggies onto the skewer in whichever order seems right to you (this is a great job for kids). Don’t squeeze them together (you want them to have surface area between to cook quickly and evenly) and leave ample space for hands to hold them. Figure on 5-7 vegetables per skewer.

Lay on medium hot grill and cook for 5 minutes, turn, and cook more. They should be completely done in 15 minutes or so, depending on your grill. You are looking for blistering, even charring, skin on the tomatoes and peppers for doneness. You can move them about to different temperature areas on the grill as needed. Serve!

Crunchy Creamy Zucchini Corn Fritters

8 Jun

Just because we are camping, doesn’t mean Natalia is eternally rubbing sticks together to make fire and provide for her family, caveman-style. I mean, it is a vacation, isn’t it? And a vacation to me means a judicious blend of rustic roughing-it at the campsite and delightful forays into civilization, where other people — preferably terrific local chefs — bring me my food and provide me with cloth napkins in exchange for my credit card.

Corn fritters with zucchini and onion

So while camping at Hither Hills State Park last week we forayed to fishbar, where executive chef Jennifer Meadows (click here to learn about her and her experience on Chopped) serves up local goodness in clean and inventive ways. When we arrived –late of course — my parents — who always get a cottage of some sort nearby the campsite and were therefore bathed, fragrant, well-dressed and on-time — were already there, noshing on some corn fritters (because they knew it would be a while before we turned up). We all loved those fritters.

I wish I had a better photo of the fish tacos. They were love-ly!

I could have probably asked for the recipe, but that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? So here is my take on corn fritters — which helped use up a couple of cooked ears of corn and half a zucchini and a few other items in my fridge that needed gainful employment. Continue reading →

Tags: cooking, corn fritters, fishbar, food, frying up leftovers, kid-friendly vegetable ideas, Montauk, recipes, zucchini fritters

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Categories Camping, Food, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian

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