Asian Steak Kabobs

When Sweetbay's Black Angus Sirloin is on sale, I stock up! It's my choice of steak when we're entertaining on a budget, especially when it's prime grilling season.

I love making kabobs, as it’s sure to bring a smile to both adults and kids alike.  The lean, intense, beefy flavor of the sirloin cut is perfect.  In addition, the price is right, the shape of the cut allows for big, evenly sized cubes….and did I mention the ultimate All-American beefy flavor?

There's very little work to be done with the sirloin, except to trim away the outer fat if you'd like.

Then cut into 1½ inch cubes, oh about this size.

Zucchini or yellow squash should but cut into ¾ inch thick rounds.  If the squash is small, just leave them as rounds.  If they’re big ‘n fat, like mine, I cut them into half-moons.  You want to make sure that the squash isn’t cut any thinner than ¾ inch thick – it’s a soft, delicate vegetable that breaks easily when skewered.

For bell peppers, I get every single color – red, green, orange and yellow.  Slice the pepper in half first.

Then use your fingers (or a paring knife) to remove the seedy section.

Slice each half into four strips (or three if your pepper is small).

Then cut each strip into three squares.

For mushrooms, I prefer the meaty Portobello.  The problem you might run into with mushrooms is that they’re incredibly soft and tear easily when trying to skewer them.

Large Portobellos cut thick work great.  Slice into 1-inch thick slices, then halve each slice.

For onions, we enjoy both red onions and sweet Vidalia onions.  Cut in half, peel away the skin and cut off the stem.

Cut each half into thirds (or halve if using small onions).

Then cut each piece in half again.

Cherry tomatoes are left whole.  The next step is to marinate.  Put all of the vegetables EXCEPT the mushrooms into a big bowl.  We’ll add the mushrooms in later.

I like having the steak and vegetables marinate separately, and in different sauces.  For this recipe, I add an Asian flair to the kabobs.  To make it easy, I use store-bought salad dressing or marinades.

San-J has some great gluten-free marinades.  You can find them in the section with Asian products.  The Makoto Ginger Dressing is found in the refrigerated produce section – you’ll love it; it’s one of my favorites.

I place all the sirloin into a large bowl, season with salt, pepper and the ginger dressing.  Cover and refrigerate.

For the vegetables, I chose the San-J Orange Sauce.  Just season with salt, pepper and toss with the dressing.

Once you’ve tossed the vegetables, add the mushrooms on top and just leave them there.

The mushrooms are too delicate to toss and you want to keep the mushrooms relatively dry to stay meaty.  Wet mushrooms get soggy, shrink down and are hard to skewer.

Cover and refrigerate if you’re marinating overnight.  If you’re only marinating for a few hours, it’s fine to let the bowl sit on your counter.  If you’re like me, refrigerator space is limited!

When you’re ready to cook, skewer the meat and vegetables together.  Preheat your grill – one side high heat, the other side on low heat.  Start the kabobs on high heat, searing both sides and move them to the lower heat to finish off.

You’ll see that the vegetables and the meat cook evenly together when you take the time to cut your vegetables nicely!