John's Veg Kabobs

This would have been a much better post if my friend John had been named Bob. I could have had a fabulous heading like, Bob's Kabobs! But, John is not Bob, and he's moved far, far away to a new home at 8,500 feet. That's what you call "high living," right? Dewey and I visited him a few weeks ago. We had a wonderful time riding trains, hiking to waterfalls, exploring cliff dwellings, watching a mutton bustin' at a rodeo where we also judged barbequed ribs at a KCBS-sanctioned competition and John cooked while we ate. 

Not Bob's Kabobs, a.k.a. John's Vegetable Kabobs.

John's always cooked at home. He has a fabulous cheesecake recipe that he learned from his mother, he makes a most delicious meatloaf and he grills. His kitchen is spotless because most of his cooking is done in the oven, on the grill or in a salad bowl. We enjoyed many delicious meals courtesy of John. One of our favorites was such an easy side dish--grilled vegetable kabobs.

John tosses the vegetables in a high-quality balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil with a seasoning salt. (I use salt & pepper) He threads the assortment of vegetables onto skewers, gets his grill extra hot and in less than ten minutes, everything's ready. Then the veggies are pulled off the skewers and tossed with a little more of the vinegar and oil. John says that it's important for the tomatoes to be firm so that they don't fall apart. He typically uses a mix of baby portobello mushrooms, red onion, green pepper, Roma tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini. 

John's secret ingredient.

How to do this and how much of everything is entirely up to you. Follow John's method, use his mix of vegetables, eyeball the quantities, and adjust next time.

Use this as your guide for how large to cut the vegetables.

Here's what I did, mostly because fresh basil is so abundant at this time of the year. I added a chiffonade of fresh basil and tossed. I also substituted John's seasoning salt with pepper and sea salt. That's it. John grills the kabobs. I broiled mine. They're great with either method.

Serving as an entree. I recommend plating everything once it's tossed. Find the best Parmigiano or Asiago cheese that you can afford and shave or grate it over each serving. If you don't want the dairy, consider grating walnuts or almonds over the top.

One last thing about serving. In this country, we like things hot or cold. Consider serving this vegetable dish the European way, at room temperature. It saves so much last-minute prep time, and you may taste flavors that you wouldn't if the dish were served piping hot.