Grilled Vegetable Kebbs

When I made up the menu for this week, I wanted to try something fun and different. Terry and I are making a huge effort to eat at home (since we got back from Europe, we've eaten homemade every night except one (for him) and two (for me)!). But eating at home every night presents challenges:

• Making sure I have all the ingredients--and when I don't, forcing myself to go to the store instead of just giving up. 
• Staying organized and making sure we have enough time to make the meals we plan (not as much of a problem now that I'm subbing instead of teaching full time). 
• Coming up with creative, unique ideas so that we don't get tired of it.

Today I think I did a good job, especially in that last category. We decided to go vegetarian and use the pita and hummus we purchased at the farmer's market over the weekend, and we grilled up some veggie kebabs!

Vegetable Kabobs

Serves 4, but easy to double or triple for a crowd

For the kabobs:

• 1 red onion
• 3 bell peppers, ideally of different colors
• 2 medium zucchini or yellow squash (they're at the end of their season here, so in the winter I would use winter squash or whatever you can find with similar texture)
• Special tools: kebab sticks (1-2 per person)

For the marinade:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• Dash red pepper flakes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (we like a lot of garlic, so use less if you prefer)

For serving (optional):

• Feta or goat cheese (1-2 ounces per person)
• Pita bread (1-2 whole pitas per person)
• Hummus (we had a variety of options from the farmer's market)
• Greek yogurt, maybe mixed with lemon or dill
• Whatever else sounds delicious--diced tomatoes, Kalamata olives, red wine, etc.

Fill a small rectangular dish with water and let your kebab sticks soak while you prep the rest of your ingredients. Whisk the marinade ingredients together and set aside to let the flavors marry. Then chop up your vegetables. Ideally, aim for pieces that are approximately the same size (I liked the chunks to be about half of a ping pong ball, and I kept the onion chunks slightly smaller). Throw all those chunks into your marinade and toss until they're evenly covered. You could soak them in the marinade for a bit, but I didn't; I would think they'd get soggy pretty quickly, so I wouldn't go too long.

Slide your marinated veggie chunks onto the sticks in whatever order sounds most delicious to you. I liked onions on the ends, perhaps because they're a sturdier vegetable. You could do all the previous steps in advance and stop here if you're prepping for later. You can then store them (on a plate, covered with plastic wrap) in the fridge until you're ready to grill.

When you're ready to go, heat up the grill and throw the veggies on, rotating so all sides get slightly charred, about 10-15 minutes total (our grill is tiny, so it took about 15 minutes). Serve with the pita, cheese, hummus, and whatever else tickles your fancy!

As amazing as the vegetables were with just the marinade, the goat cheese + hummus combo took them to a level I didn't believe was possible. I loved this meal, and I think they would be fun for kids, too. Kids love "playing" with their food, and this meal is pure finger foods! You're constantly assembling, dipping, spreading, and munching! And I ate more vegetables than I have in awhile.

These kebabs would even be a great side dish or appetizer, especially if you're serving grilled lamb. Something about lamb and grilled vegetables sounds just delightful to me.