Let's Grill!

As soon as the weather gets warm and red wine glasses are swapped out for fun margarita glasses, I'm ready to grill!

This summer has been especially hot so far but that doesn't take away from my love of grilled food. I'll happily sweat it out if it means some amazing dinner options in the end. (My husband feels the same way and most times ends up on the grill on my behalf BUT it is a joint effort and a shared love of food that drives us.)

This particular one is so easy.  I think the hardest part about this is the wait because it requires some marinading time.  It's so simple and so delicious and you can use just about anything you have on hand.  Here I've marinated cubes of paneer and accompanying vegetables - onions and bell peppers. 

You can also do an assortment of vegetable and/or meat skewers.  For meat options, you can do cubes of chicken breast, or if you want to do fish, go with a slightly firmer choice such as cubes of salmon, tuna or swordfish.  Give shrimp or lobster tails a try as well.  If you're feeling fancy and want to go a surf and turf route, try adding lamb chunks and use the same marinade!

If going with meat skewers, I recommend at least a 4 hour marinade or up to over night.  The vegetables don't need that long to marinade.  All of this sits in a rich bath of your choice of yogurt and DHOL Spice Mix blends.  Here's what you'll need,

Where to start:

1/2 cup of yogurt (your choice)

juice of half a lemon

1-2 bell peppers, cut large

1 large onion, peeled

2 Tbls vegetable oil

DHOL Shahi Paneer Spice Mix 1 & 2

14oz paneer cheese pack, cubed {If you're planning to also do any kind of meat, make sure to marinade those separately}

Method:

In a mixing bowl, add yogurt and DHOL Spice Mix 1 & 2.  Add lemon juice, 2 Tbls of oil and mix well.  Fold in paneer cubes gently.  You can add the onion and bell peppers as well if you like.  I tend to do this at the end because I don't want the veggies to fall apart before skewering.  

Once you have your skewers ready, (and if you're using wood skewers remember to give them a good 30min soak in water before grilling), get them on a hot grill. I grill the paneer/vegetable skewers for about 8 minutes, turning occasionally. 

If you're going to do the chicken skewers, cook for about 12 minutes, turning the skewers half way through.  Make sure you get to an internal cooked temperature of 160*.  For shrimp kabobs, grill on each side for about 1.5 minutes until brown and opaque. For a salmon, about 8-10 minutes, turning once halfway through. The internal temperature for medium-rare is 120*.  Want to try lamb?  Grill for abut 15 minutes until you get an internal temperature of 145*.

So many delicious options here and super easy with DHOL Spice Mix!  You can try out the spice mix blends for Chicken Curry or Chana Saag too to see which marinade is your favorite!

Happy grilling folks! Share some pictures of your various recipes using DHOL Spice Mix and I'll feature them!

Oh, and one more thing...

Chutney Recipe:

Here's a simple green chutney you can make to go with your delectable skewers dinner.  

Grab one big, healthy bunch of fresh cilantro.  Add an equal healthy bunch of fresh mint. Make sure to thoroughly wash both. Put both into a blender.  Mix in

- juice of one lemon,

- 1/4 tsp salt,

- fresh black pepper,

- 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic,

- 2-3 serrano chili for heat,

- 1/2 inch ginger, peeled

- 1 tsp cumin seeds

- 2 Tbls of water

BLEND!

It's that simple!  Serve this up in a bowl next to your skewers for an amazing homemade chutney.