Swordfish and steak kebabs

Walking around Menards last year, we came upon a section of grilling utensils and thought we would use a kebab set a ton....turns out we didn't.  Like never used them once in the last year.  Better late than never I guess, these will get used a lot more in the months to come.  Kebabs are perfect since you dont have to make any sides if you don't want to, everything you could want is included.  Besides, grilled onions and tomatoes are the shizz, I don't care who you are. 

So I had some swordfish in my freezer that I was trying to figure what to do with when I came upon this marinade recipe.  I had some sirloins that were thawed for salads too, and decided that in case the swordfish didn't work out, they would be a great backup.  Pictured below are the steak kababs (mind you, I took these apart and cut the potatoes up more after this picture was taken so they would get done in time with the meat):

Every meat likes a marinade and I LOVE these Lawry's brand 30 minute marinades.  The baja chipotle is perfect for grilled pork chops, the caribbean jerk is great for seafood, and the balsamic garlic is awesome on chicken.  The one I used on these bad boys was the steak and chop with garlic though....this link shows a picture of the bottle since I forgot to take one.  They have a huge selection of these at any Hy-Vee...

http://www.lawrys.com/Products/Marinades/Steak--Chop.aspx

Now for the main event, the actual swordfish.  I used the same veggies on both the steak and the swordfish kebabs: potatoes, onions, cherry tomatoes, and jalopenos (until I ran out).  Next time I will add full mushrooms as well.  Pretty easy to load them up, the only thing you have to be careful of is not cutting your potatoes too thick because they take the longest to cook.  You don't want the meat overdone and the potatoes still hard in the center so make them pretty thin, and make your meat chunks decently thick, like so (these are all pre-marinade):

This marinade was pretty simple, and I had all of the ingredients in my cupboard.  I don't have the recipe in front of me so the amounts might be a little off but I don't think they matter too much anyhow, as long as you get it all in there.  If you want to go the simple route you could use the Lawry's carribean jerk marinade I mentioned above instead of whipping this together. 

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 T olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

1teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 cup diced onion

1 garlic clove minced (I used 2)

Mix together and it should look like this:

Pour the mixture over the kebabs and let them marinate for at least 30 minutes.  I made these on Sunday this week (go me...I havent cooked once this week and we've had homecooked meals each night!) and left them in the fridge to grill after my long run on Wednesday night. Keep the grill on the lowest setting possible so they don't cook too fast, and flip them every 10 minutes or so to keep them moving.  It took about 30 minutes or a little more to get them all the way done.  Sidenote: skewers are hot when they are on the grill (derrrrr) so turning them with your fingers results in the loss of your fingerprints....not that I know from experience or anything :)

Justin was a little nervous about the swordfish since we'd never tried to make it at home before but he warmed up to it quite nicely.  The first bite was a little fishy but I think it was just that piece because I actually liked the swordfish better than the steak, which is a feat!  Swordfish is a very substantial fish, it feels heavier than normal fish so it makes you full but is just as good for you.  I was told these are "make agains for sure" so there's the verdict....two thumbs up!  Enjoy!

I estimate the swordfish kebabs at 250 calories per stick and the steak version at 300-350 calories per stick, depending on what cut of beef you use.