Paleo Grilled Vegetable Kebabs

Why This Recipe Works

When it comes to grilled kebabs, vegetables are often an afterthought—used as a filler on meat-heavy skewers. But this treatment often leads to mushy, burnt vegetables with no flavor of their own. We wanted to create a recipe that would put the vegetables front and center. We started by choosing the right vegetables. We wanted a good mix of flavors and textures, but we knew that not all veggies would hold up on the high heat of the grill. We started with bell peppers, which sweetened beautifully over the flames, and zucchini, which held its shape nicely and had a crunchy, satisfying texture. Portobello mushroom caps were the perfect addition to the kebabs; as they released their moisture over the flame, they picked up great char and developed a deep, meaty taste. Tossing grilled vegetables with a bold dressing can amp up their flavor considerably, but for our vegetable kebabs, we took the idea one step further. We tossed the vegetables with half of the dressing before skewering and grilling them, giving them great flavor from the start. We pumped up the complexity and nuance of the remaining dressing with juice from grilled lemons, and tossed it with the cooked vegetables for a punchy, bright finish.