Fresh vegetables, skewered and slightly charred on the grill, make a beautiful accompaniment to just about any grilled meal. Chooose an assortment of colorful vegetables, cut them into bite-size pieces, brush them with a little marinade, and and cook them briefly over a hot grill. One small round boiled potato at the end of the skewer is a nice South American-style touch. Add cubes of marinated tofu or grill-able cheeses like provolone or haloumi and these skewers can be a vegetarian main course.
Serve vegetarian "anticuchos" with aji amarillo sauce, guasacaca, or chimichurri.Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 15-20 skewers.
Ingredients:
- 15 small potatoes
- 3 bell peppers (assorted colors)
- 3 zucchini squash
- 20-25 medium mushrooms, or 10 large mushrooms, halved
- 3 red onions
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Juice of 2-3 limes
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 tablespoon aji panca paste
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (or to taste)
- Black pepper to taste
Preparation:
- Boil whole unpeeled potatoes in salted water until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and cool.
- Cut remaining vegetables in to 1-2 inch pieces. Peel off the outher layers of the onions and cut onions into small wedges. Soak vegetable pieces in very cold salted water for about 15 minutes, then drain. Pat dry
- Place about 6-8 vegetable pieces on a wooden skewer, finishing with a potato to cover the pointed end. Repeat with remaining vegetables.
- Whisk together olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper. Brush vegetables with half of the marinade.
- Heat grill to medium-high, and grill vegetables for 2-3 minutes. Brush with remaining marinade and turn vegetables over on the grill. Grill for 2-3 minutes more, or until vegetables are just slightly charred around the edges.
Makes about 15-20 skewers.
