At Last

Summer has officially arrived.  At long last.  And according to conventional Pac NW wisdom, it turned up a day early, on the actual 4th of July.  What a pleasant surprise, after all that dreary rain.

With the lovely, hot days, we spend most of our time outdoors: playing, working, cooking, and (the best bit) eating.  Out comes the grill, the uber-simple meals, the ice-cold bevvies....good things are happening in the summer, no doubt about it.

Recently, I was visiting Jennifer Casa's lovely blog, J Casa *handmade, and was inspired by her post of a Martha Stewart recipe, for Mojo Pork Kebabs.  A quick-to-prepare, marinated dish of pork and veggies, that can be prepped early in the day and forgotten about, until hungry bellies grumble, and the heat has died down just enough to light the grill. 

I did alter things, just a wee bit.  The original recipe calls for cucumbers on the skewers, and I am not a fan.  I think it goes back to college days, when for a short time, I had a very odd, rather lurk-y roommate, who cooked cucumbers.  (I don't know which was more unsettling:  the creepy moments when you'd feel as if you were being watched, and looking up, there she was, just lurking quietly, for who knows how long...or the weird, cooked cucumbers.  Shivers.)  So.  No cucumbers for me, thanks.  Instead, we threw some onions and sweet peppers into the marinade.

I also added a pinch of ground cumin to the marinade.  Because why not?  Citrus, pork, garlic...it sort of wanted cumin for a friend, I do believe.

Here you go:

Mojo Pork Kebabs - adapted from Martha Stewart, via JCasa *handmade
-serves four to six

Ingredients
pork tenderloin, about 2 pounds, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
two large peppers, cut into large chunks
1/2 large onion, cut into large chunks
1/3 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbs freshly squeezed lime juice, from 2 limes
1/4 cup orange juice, from 2 oranges
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch red chili flakes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the marinade.  Whisk together olive oil, lime and orange juices, cumin, chili flakes, salt and pepper.  Pour half the marinade over the pork, and refrigerate in a large ziploc bag, or covered bowl, for a minimum of half an hour, up to overnight.  I made mine in the morning, and grilled that evening.  Reserve the other half of marinade for veggies, and brushing on the pork while grilling.

Before skewering, toss the vegetables in the reserved marinade.  Again, reserve this marinade for brushing.

If using skewers, thread the pork and veggies onto them, just before grilling.  Or, if your skewers are packed away in boxes, as ours are, use a grill pan over the coals, to cook.

Preheat your grill, or barbecue.  When hot, grill everything until done, brushing from time to time with marinade.  Pork needs to be cooked to 165 deg F.

Serve up your Mojo Pork with some fresh, crusty bread, pita, or tortillas.

A perfect meal, for perfect summer weather.  At last.