Recipe of the Month

This month's recipes (I know, two!) are mostly quick and easy and keep the oven off. Perfect for hot summer weather, they also use what's hopefully in your garden at the moment.

First up, basic pork kebabs. We love putting food on a stick--it makes it seem a lot more fun to eat.

Pork Kebabs

approximately 1/3 cup frozen limeade concentrate
approximately 1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (or more to taste)
2 Tbsp soy sauce (or more to taste)
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
approximately 1 lb pork, cut into largish chunks (I prefer to buy what I call "mystery pork" for this meal. Don't waste your money on good cuts of pork, like loins or chops, when you're going to just cut it up in pieces. Get whatever's on sale for $1.59 a pound, bones or not.)
1 large green bell pepper
1 or 2 purple onions, depending on how much you like onions
any other vegetable you think might be good grilled (in these photos, we used cherry tomatoes)

In small bowl or glass measuring cup, melt limeade in microwave. Add water, sauces, olive oil and salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Cut bell pepper, onions and other veggies into pieces about the same size as your pork chunks. Combine all in a cake pan and coat with marinade. Stir well, then cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.

After your kebab ingredients have marinated for at least 30 minutes (I prefer a couple of hours), poke them onto bamboo skewers that have soaked in water. I usually let my skewers soak the whole time my ingredients are marinating.

After you have skewered all ingredients, save the marinade. Brush this on your skewers while they are grilling. You only need to grill them for about 10 minutes--I like to turn them every 2 or 3 minutes and brush after each turn.


Kebabs are so easy to make! The only trick is to be sure to cut things large enough so they don't fall off the skewers, but small enough so that everything gets done at the same time.

To accompany the kebabs, we like squash and zucchini, sauteed until just tender. Mmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about this!

Sauteed Zucchini & Summer Squash

1 medium zucchini
2 small summer squash (we like the crookneck variety best)
1 small onion (if you have pieces that are too small to go on your skewers, save them and use them here)
1 clove garlic
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper

After your have cut up all your ingredients for the kebabs, slice zucchini into rounds and halve lengthwise. Place zucchini in a bowl and salt generously; stir. Allow to sit for approximately 30 minutes, then pour off water that has accumulated. Rinse and pour off water again. This salting process helps the zucchini shed some of the moisture that can make it soggy when it's cooking. Slice summer squash into rounds; mince onion and garlic.

Combine all ingredients in skillet and cook over medium-low heat until veggies are crisp-tender.

How I love this meal! It's so quick and easy and fun, mostly because my favorite part of cooking is preparation. I love to cut things up (especially with a good, perfectly sharpened knife) and put them in pretty bowl and look at them, just waiting to be used in something that tastes amazing.