If you’re looking for a yummy, savory, summery dinner or afternoon BBQ nosh, look no further! I’ve played around with the ingredients to get the tastes right, and tonight it looks like I hit the mother lode!

Grilled Surf n’ Turf Kabobs with Pineapple
Garlic Ginger Shrimp Marinade
Olive Oil Steak Marinade
**vegetarians, follow the asterisks!

Ingredients:
one package diced beef tenderloin (about six large cubes, you will dice them)
one pound jumbo or large shrimp
one head fresh cilantro leaves
one small ginger root (about the size of your fist)
fresh garlic cloves (about 6, use more or less to taste)
bunch green onions (scallions)
one pineapple
6 baby onions (size of a half-dollar or smaller)
package vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
blend of green, red & yellow bell peppers
2 handfuls shiitake or cremini mushrooms
ground black pepper
worcestershire sauce
soy sauce
3 limes

Fill an oblong baking pan or casserole dish until the water level hits approximately the 1/2 inch mark; soak wooden kabob skewers so they won’t burn and splinter your food while on the grill. Doing this will also help you remove the skewered food with ease.

Steak Marinade:
To already diced beef cubes (about 24 pieces), add about 1/2 cup of olive oil, roughly chopped fresh garlic, juice of one lime, three teaspoons ground black pepper, mix in a bowl and let sit at least 20 minutes uncovered in the refrigerator (room temperature also works, but I find better consistency with a cold marinade).

Shrimp marinade:
One pound of large shrimp, peeled and deveined. Julienne green onions, and put in a food processor. Add freshly diced ginger root (about half of a root that is the size of your fist), three tablespoons soy sauce to the green onions; run the processor and add four tablespoons olive oil, 2-3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce, juice of 2 limes, half a head of cilantro. Process until the consistency is thick (about 30 seconds altogether while adding the above ingredients) and color is a dark brown-green. Mix with shrimp, and set aside in refrigerator about 20 minutes.

Using a pineapple corer, remove the insides of a fresh pineapple and quarter the slices. Set aside.

Prepare vine-ripened cherry tomatoes in a bowl, set aside.

Cut baby onions (about the size of a half-dollar) in half, remove skins, set in bowl and place them with the pineapple quarters & cherry tomatoes.

Take out either Shiitake or Cremini mushrooms (your preference, I like Shiitake better grilled) and leave them whole, depending on the size. If they’re big, halve them.

You can add cut, squared green, red or yellow peppers for more color and a better taste blend. Fire up the grill–if you use charcoal, allow about 15-20 minutes for the briquets to whiten, depending on the type you purchase. For convenience, I like Kingsford’s Match Light, they’re almost always ready to go within 15 minutes.

Remove the steak & shrimp from the refrigerator, and begin to assemble the kabobs, using your preferred combination (steak/onion/pepper/tomato/shrimp) or (pineapple/shrimp/tomato/onion/pineapple/shrimp) or (steak/mushroom/onion/shrimp/mushroom/steak), let your creative juices dictate the flow!

Set aside excess marinade (option: you can use a basting brush and dab the ginger shrimp marinade onto the shrimp while grilling–same with the steak marinade, onto the steak–keeping the seafood/meat moist will allow for a tender consistency)

Over direct heat (spreading the briquets evenly after they’ve whitened), cover-grill the kabobs–about three minutes per side, and place on a serving dish, cover to keep warm. Once all the skewers have been cooked, grab a frosty Corona (a sweet Riesling or a fruity Cabernet Sauvignon have worked wonders for my palate in the past, but there’s no substitute for a light beer with this meal!)

and simply enjoy! Generous portions more than enough for 2, should comfortably serve 3-4 people.

You can vary the recipe to your tastes; each time I make the ginger shrimp marinade, my friends have found it tasty, and I’ve never exactly prepared it the same way each time. I recently added the pineapple to this recipe, and I found that its naturally sweet taste brings a good balance to the sometimes tart taste of the garlic ginger marinade, and it complements the tenderness of the beef.

**For vegetarians, you can remove the meat and seafood, the grilled pineapple really balances out the acidity of the onions and the plumpness of the grilled tomatoes.

Bon Appétit!