Happy 4th of July! This is Americas 249th birthday and a day to celebrate our independence . Grilling hamburgers, hot dogs and steaks is the usual fare, I went in a little different direction making shish kebab. Got beautiful sirloin filets (different from a sirloin steak) cut into chunks, marinated and skewered with cherry tomatoes, shallot and bell peppers. Fire up the grill, here’s how to make it:

Shish Kebab

Marinade and meat

1 small bunch parsley finely chopped

2 large cloves garlic grated or minced

2 tsp dried oregano or 1 tbs chopped fresh oregano

juice of 1 lemon

approximately 1/4 c olive oil

splash of Worcestershire sauce

Approximately 2 lbs thick steak cut into chunks as close to the same size as possible (don’t use a tough cut, use sirloin filet, filet mignon, rib eye or strip are all good choices, the steak should be 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Cut steak into chunks, place the meat in a zip lock bag and pour the marinade over the meat. Squish it so the meat is completely coated. Seal bag and refrigerate for 1 hour. NOTE: if using bamboo skewers soak in water for an hour before grilling.

red onion or shallots

bell peppers cut into bite size pieces

Cherry tomatoes

Salt and pepper

Fire up the grill and prepare as you normally would for the type of grill you own. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel, skewer the meat and vegetables in whichever order you like. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil. Grill to desired doneness, I like it medium rare, the steak was pretty thick, I grilled for about 5 minutes each side.

I like to serve with grilled flat bread drizzled with a little olive oil.

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