STICK HANDLING: Souvlaki, kabobs, satay and other stuff on skewers

Summer suppers are fast and easy when you take inspiration from the world's street vendors and grill something on a stick

By CINDA CHAVICH

I love a kebab/kabob — fast to grill and lovely to present for an appetizer or main course on a pretty platter.

When you stick any food on a skewer — whether meats, vegetables or seafood — it cooks quickly and can be brushed with an array of spicy sauces and savoury marinades, creating tasty morsels that are easy to eat and quick to cook .

Kabobs can be very simple, like a skewer of cubed steak or tandoori marinated chicken, or a colourful combo of chunky vegetables.

Every culture has its own style of skewers, the kind of street food you might find in a Malaysian market or on a Greek beach. Think pork satay with peanut sauce, lamb souvlaki, Turkish shish kebab, and Japanese yakatori — food on a stick is easy to handle for both the cook and the customer, cheap, cheerful and fun for a summer party.

STICK HANDLING

Kabob cooking is pretty straight forward. As long as you cut anything you plan to skewer into uniform pieces, it will cook quickly and evenly.

Veggies that take well to stick handling include grape tomatoes, chunks of bell peppers or onions, and cubes of summer squash and eggplant. Just brush vegetables with garlic-infused olive oil and season with sea salt before grilling.

When I grill chicken breasts or boneless thighs, I often cut them into long strips, marinate them with a bit of olive oil, lemon juice and Greek oregano and garlic, then thread them, accordion-style, onto metal skewers to serve souvlaki style.

For grilling jumbo shrimp, just peel and devein, then thread them onto a double-pronged metal skewer (or two bamboo skewers) piercing each at both the head and tail end so they stay flat and are easy to turn on a hot grill.

I usually grill skewered meats and vegetables separately as they require different cooking times, but you can thread onions and mushrooms with cubes of beef and make multi-coloured vegetable skewers — alternating chunky cubed veggies on a wooden or metal skewer — to serve alongside almost any protein you've got on the barbie.

Be careful when handling metal skewers. They get extremely hot while on the grill, so never pick them up without using an oven mitt.

And soak bamboo skewers in warm water for 30 minutes before skewering the food and placing on the grill — otherwise, they can go up in smoke before your dinner’s done!

PRETTY AS A PICTURE

Skewers always look good presented over a bed of fluffy quinoa, a spinach and rice pilaf, or a mixed green salad.

Chunks of marinated, grilled meat, poultry, and peppers are perfect to wrap in tortillas with salsa for a fajita meal, or pile onto pitas or flatbreads and drizzled with cucumbers, tomatoes and herbed yogurt sauces.

Cold grilled peppers, zucchini and eggplant make colourful layers in a focaccia sandwich, stuffed into a muffuletta, or toasted with cheese in a panini press.

And for easy, make-ahead antipasto bites you can collect cold stuff on small skewers — including cherry tomatoes, olives, baby bocconcini, artichokes and basil leaves, with sausage or prosciutto, too.

Skewers are endlessly adaptable and pretty to present, hot off the grill, on a long platter for guests to enjoy. Fun for everyone – including the cook!

SOUVLAKIA SKEWERS

This is my fallback for a simple summer supper — skewers of lemony chicken, pork, or lamb; Greek salad; and pita bread, toasted on the grill and brushed with olive oil for wrapping. Some plain yogurt, whisked with minced garlic, shredded cucumber, and dill (a.k.a. tzatziki) is nice on the side.

Skewered roasted potatoes, a tomato and feta pasta salad, or a pot of rice with sauteed onion, garlic and chopped spinach, chard and sturdy greens, make for a complete Greek feast.

From The Guy Can’t Cook by Cinda Chavich

2 lb (1 kg) skinless, boneless chicken breasts (or pork tenderloin or lamb)

¼ cup (60 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice

¼ cup (60 mL) extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp (15 mL) dried oregano

¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp (5 mL) minced fresh rosemary

1 large clove garlic, minced

Cut the meat into long, skinny strips and thread, accordion-style, onto bamboo skewers that have been soaked for 30 minutes in water (this will prevent them burning up on the grill).

In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, oil, oregano, black pepper, rosemary, and garlic. Pour this over the meat and marinate in the refrigerator from 1 hour to 24 hours.

Grill the chicken skewers over medium-high heat for about 7 to 8 minutes or just until the juices run clear. Serves 6.

SATAY STICKS WITH PEANUT SAUCE

Use this Indonesian-inspired marinade for thin strips of chicken, pork, or lamb, and serve with a simple homemade peanut sauce, that starts with basic plain peanut butter.

Make them on small bamboo skewers for an impressive appetizer.

From The Guy Can’t Cook by Cinda Chavich

1 lb (500 g) boneless chicken, pork, or lamb.cut into thin strips

Marinade:

¼ cup (60 mL) kecap manis (sweet Indonesian soy sauce)

1 Tbsp (15 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp (5 mL) honey

Peanut Sauce:

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ cup (125 mL) natural peanut butter

1 Tbsp (15 mL) kecap manis (sweet Indonesian soy sauce)

¼ cup (60 mL) chicken broth or water

1 Tbsp (15 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice

½ tsp (2 mL) Asian chili paste

In a large, zippered plastic bag, combine the meat with the marinade ingredients. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Drain the marinated meat and thread onto bamboo skewers. Grill over medium-high heat until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes in total.

To make the sauce, whisk the garlic, peanut butter, kecap manis, chicken broth, lime juice, and chili paste together in a small bowl.

Set the bowl of sauce at the center of a round platter, and arrange the skewers, like spokes, around the edges. Makes 16 skewers.

TANDOORI LAMB SKEWERS

Spicy skewers of grilled lamb and vegetables make a simple but elegant summer meal, with rice and spicy mango chutney on the side. This marinade works well on chicken, too, or can be rubbed over a piece of salmon before grilling

From The Guy Can’t Cook by Cinda Chavich.

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1 lb (500 g) lamb leg, trimmed of visible fat

1-inch (2.5-cm) chunks of onion, zucchini, red

and yellow bell peppers, and eggplant

Tandoori Rub

1/3 cup (75 mL) plain yogurt

1 Tbsp (15 mL) curry powder or garam masala

½ tsp (2 mL) Asian chili paste

½ tsp (2 mL) salt

½ tsp (2 mL) granulated sugar

2 green onions, minced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½-inch (1-cm) piece fresh ginger, minced or puréed

2 Tbsp (30 mL) finely chopped fresh cilantro

Cut the lamb into 1 ½-inch (4-cm) cubes. In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, curry, chili paste, salt, and sugar. Stir in the green onions, garlic, ginger, and cilantro. Reserve half the marinade for brushing the vegetables while grilling.

Add the lamb cubes to the remaining marinade in the bowl. Stir to coat well, then cover and refrigerate from 30 minutes to 12 hours.

Drain the lamb and discard the marinade. To cook the lamb, skewer the cubes of marinated meat on to pre-soaked bamboo or metal skewers. Make separate skewers of onion, zucchini, bell pepper, and/or eggplant. Brush the vegetables with the reserved marinade.

Grill the skewers over medium-high heat until the lamb is medium rare and the vegetables are cooked, about 10 minutes in total. The lamb will be most tender if not cooked beyond medium rare.

Serve the lamb and vegetables with basmati rice and a little mango chutney on the side. Serves 4.

GRILLED VEGETABLES

Whenever you’re grilling a piece of protein, you should be grilling vegetables on the side. If you cut them into equal sized, 2-inch chunks, they’re easy to skewer for colourful veggie kabobs, or you keep them in large pieces (slice or halve), which is best for grilled vegetable sandwiches.

Just brush the veggies with garlic-infused oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill until nicely charred.

Dead easy and fantastic to serve as a side dish or to have on hand to add to salads and pasta dishes.

Plus, grilling (or roasting) veg, is the perfect way to use up what’s in the fridge at the end of the week, and vastly improve wilted produce.

¼ cup (60 mL) extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 large eggplant, sliced into ¼-inch (5-mm) rounds or chunks

1 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch (5-mm) strips or chunks

3 bell peppers, red, orange and yellow, seeded and halved lengthwise, or cut into large cubes

2 large portobello mushrooms, whole or cut into large cubes (or whole button mushrooms)

Cherry tomatoes

Asparagus spears

Red or white onions, peeled and cut into thick wedges (root end intact)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

reduced balsamic vinegar or vinaigrette (optional)

Combine the olive oil and crushed garlic.

Brush the oil over the cut sides of the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.

For kebabs, skewer vegetable chunks on metal skewers, alternating for a colourful effect.

You can also skewer halved bell peppers to make them easier to turn on the grill, or use a grill stir-fry basket to cook smaller cubed vegetables that might slip through the grates.

Heat the barbecue grill to medium high and grill the vegetables until starting to soften and char. The bell peppers will blacken fairly quickly, but that makes them easier to peel later. Zucchini cooks in a minute or two a side, eggplant in 4-5 minutes a side.

Once grilled, peel the skin from the bell peppers and season with a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar or simple lemon vinaigrette, if using. Otherwise, just serve warm or refrigerate to use later (bring to room temperature to serve).

Grilled vegetables are extremely versatile — serve alongside grilled meats as a side dish, chop and combine for a simple antipasto to scoop onto sliced baguette, add them to bean or pasta salads, or layer on focaccia bread with soft cheese for tasty grilled vegetable sandwiches.

©CindaChavich2025