Right now, it's hotter than hel-p outside, but we still need to eat, which requires cooking. What to do, what to do? Because once I left the grill on until it emptied a whole tank of propane, I pretty much hate using it. Seriously, think what a waste of money that was. I shudder. My husband is the grilling machine at our house, and he just happens to be very competent at also turning it off when he is finished.
I think he was doing a fake serious face here, but he's definitely fo-real serious about whipping out some grillage.
His latest experiment was these bad boy kabobs.
They had the tastiest tofu that I have ever had in my life. I like tofu, but I don't crave tofu. I craved this tofu -- sweet plus savory and so delicious.
Here's the recipe we used.
- Prep Time:
- 20 min
- Inactive Prep Time:
- 2 hr 0 min
- Cook Time:
- 10 min
- Level:
- Easy
- Serves:
- 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 medium red or white potatoes
- 1 cup firm or extra-firm tofu chunks
- 1 cup red, yellow or green bell pepper chunks
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- 1 cup red onion chunks
- 1 cup white button mushrooms
- 1 cup zucchini or yellow squash chunks
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- Marinade, recipe follows
- Wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes
Directions
Cook potatoes in salted water until fork tender; let cool and cut into 1-inch chunks. Place potatoes and the vegetables in a shallow dish or container. Pour marinade over vegetables. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat an outdoor grill to medium heat.
Remove vegetables from the marinade, reserving marinade. Thread vegetables onto skewers, alternating colors. Cook skewers on grill until vegetables are lightly charred all over, about 10 minutes, basting with reserved marinade and turning occasionally.
Marinade:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. The marinade can be prepared in advance and held covered in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
You won't regret trying those. Unless you do.
For the shrimp, we just covered them with italian dressing from a bottle we already had in the fridge. Also great and super simple.
My brother worked some grill magic too.
My nephew worked the cute factor.
My twins worked the mess angle.
And somehow, a plant actually flowered under our shoddy care.
We also had burgers with this cookout. Don't ask about our food combining. We just knew we were super hungry. Tofu kabobs, shrimp, burgers, asparagus? Somehow we didn't care as we shoved it in our faces as fast as possible.
Do you have a separate table for kids at your house? We do. Usually it's in the kitchen over the surface that is easiest to clean. Sometimes we let them eat in our presence.
Did you enter to win the free entry to the Lady Speed Stick half marathon or 5K yet? They have five cities to run in, so go check it out and see if there is one you want to run! I'll be running Nashville Cashville. Go here to enter the giveaway.
LOL - Love the seriousness that surrounds grilling. My dad is like that, too. Hubby and I don't grill being vegetarian - although the kabobs sound delicious! It's just too much work for us. Where we used to live in Mississippi, though, we used to eat out with friends all the time....At their house or ours. Usually BYO Meat grilling. Enough so, that when we got married we were justified to put a Weber grill on our registry. Moving to WI and having kids apparently put the kibosh on the free-wheeling, grill-out-with-friends lifestyle, because it then stood alone and unused in our garage for about seven years until we finally gave it to my parents. LOL
ReplyDeleteEspecially in the south. My word, they take it seriously, even down to whether you call it BBQing or cooking out. I am not joking that I have discussed this on more than one occasion. I think we would use it a lot less without the meat, but we do end up grilling quite a few veggies out there.
DeleteMan all your food porn pictures has me drooling and starving!!! Too bad it's only breakfast time. Off to make my toast! :-)
ReplyDeleteFood porn...still laughing about that one.
DeleteI want to come eat at your house! I'll bring dessert!
ReplyDeleteYum, all of this looks so delicious! Allan likes to man the grill but I like to use it myself especially since the last time he used it our cute little niece distracted him and he caught our steaks on fire.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know that was possible, but it sounds like something I might do. There has to be at least one person in every family able to not ruin the grilling. Sounds like you are the grilling rep for your family!
DeleteSo what time does dinner start? Be right over!!!
ReplyDeleteThis all looks AMAZING! I love grilling veggies! :)
ReplyDeleteoooh I HAVE A GRILL and I already have me the TOFU TOO!
ReplyDelete:-)
MizFit