Dave Lieberman's Veggie Skewers

For E's first birthday party, I decided to make vegetable skewers to healthy up our burgers and hot dogs, and found this recipe from Dave Lieberman on the Food Network's website.  I made these again to go along with some burgers for the family.

Not only are these super tasty and super healthful, but they're also so fast and so easy too.  It's really a no brainer recipe, but one I never would've thought of on my own.  I added whole mushrooms because they were on sale, and a great addition to any veggie skewer; a no brainer!

Veggie Skewers from Dave Lieberman

Ingredients

• 3 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers (or a combination of), cored, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium zucchini, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch slices
• 1 medium yellow squash, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch slices
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 to 4 pinches salt
• 10 to 15 grinds pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 medium red onion, cut into 2-inch chunks*

Special Equipment:

• wooden or metal skewers

Directions

If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in plenty of water for about 10 minutes if grilling on an indoor grill pan or for 30 minutes if grilling on an outdoor grill to prevent them from burning up.

Place all of the veggies in a large bowl or baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic. With your hands, toss to combine well. Stick onion pieces in with the vegetables to coat with the marinade; avoid tossing once onion is added so that the onion does not fall apart.

Alternate the vegetables with the onions on wooden or metal skewers. The onions will get nice and juicy rubbing up against the other veggies. You can do this up to a few hours before you grill them.

Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat.

Arrange the skewers on the grill pan and cook, turning often, until slightly charred, about 15 minutes. Remove from grill and serve hot or at room temperature.

*Cook's Note: To get skewer-able chunks of onions, cut the onions in half through the core and then cut each half into quarters. Remove 2 or 3 of the innermost layers, leaving the larger outermost layers. They will fit nicely on your skewers.