Quick intro because, well, mostly because it’s Saturday and on the weekends we should all try to take as much as of a break from information age as possible, and secondly because I’m working on getting the rest of the week’s posts ready ASAP so I can give everyone a comprehensive Super Bowl planning guide on Monday or Tuesday.
Also, we all need to save all of our energy for tomorrow’s ProBowl and NHL All-Star Game. Back-to-back games like that are sure to be exhausting.
Grilled Fruit Kabobs
I’m a big fan of adding fruit to anything I can — case in point, my love of fruit salsa over tomato salsa, so any time I have a chance to grill at home, I love to throw some fruit on either my barbecue or grill pan to go with whatever else we’re serving.
3 bananas
3 kiwi fruits
2 white peaches
1 pound large strawberries
1 pound fresh pineapple
1/2 a cantaloupe
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 ounce dark rum (optional)
Metal skewers or bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water for at least 30 minutes.
Really, you can use pretty much whatever fruit tickles your fancy. Mangoes and papaya also grill up quite nicely if you prefer more tropical flavors. Select fruit that is not overly ripe as it fall apart when grilled, and under-ripe fruit will not cook at the same rate as the rest of the kabob, leaving you with uneven grilling.
Wash, peel, chop and hull all of your fruit in an appropriate manner and cut into large chunks, leaving the strawberries whole. Thread on the skewers and set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the vegetable oil or butter, honey, spices and rum. Bring to a quick boil and remove from the heat.
Brush the marinade over fruit kabobs.
Either on a medium heat barbecue or a grill pan on medium-low, grill the kabobs until the fruit starts to caramelize on the edges, turning and brushing with extra marinade every couple of minutes. Keep a close eye on them as they’ll cook very quickly, probably 6-8 minutes in total.
No need to worry about getting the fancy grill marks on your kabobs, it’s nearly impossible to achieve with different sized fruits on a stick. They’ll taste as great without the marks.
If desired, splash with a bit more rum and serve.
Don’t let the charring on the strawberries scare you, as they’re fabulous. The depth of the rum, the spices and the honey bring out the sweetness and the smokiness in the peaches, the pineapple and the bananas.
So if you’re already firing up the grill (or your grill pan) for the Super Bowl, fruit kabobs are a great match to any meat or veggies. Even when left cold on the buffet, they’re still delicious hours later.
