Oven-Roasted Shush Kabobs

Well folks, I can no longer pretend it’s summer. Last Wednesday was 94 degrees. As I’m writing this, it’s now 53 degrees.

Farewell heat.

To be honest, I’m not too upset summer has ended. Autumn is my favorite season after all.

Of course, I may be singing a different tune once I get more into this semester.

Just because I had to say goodbye to summer, however, does not mean I have to say goodbye to summer food. Which brings me to shush kabobs. Oven roasted shush kabobs to be exact. Now you can have a bit of summer in the dead of winter (or any season!).

I didn’t actually design this recipe with cold weather in mind. Really, I was just trying to find a way of making shush kabobs without using a grill. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to so much breathe near the grill at my house. I think it must be a man thing. Kinda like how men cannot ask for directions. Men cannot let women grill (no offense to anyone out there!). So, I went to my mom’s house to use hers. Except… well, maybe men do grill with good reason (again, no offense!). Main point being, I had to find a way to make these sans grill.

Oh, and another thing, no need to break out the skewers with these. Wooden chopsticks work perfectly! Since we have so many lying around, I figured it was about time I did something with them 🙂

NOTE: the first time I made these, I placed the ham in the oven with the rest of the shush kabob (which is why the ham in the picture is integrated in my fruit/veggie pattern.) Do NOT do this! The ham quickly gets all mushy and slimy. I made this again in the way it states in the directions and problem solved! Just don’t cook the ham. Since I used precooked ham, I don’t know how any uncooked ham or other meats will work with this.

Oven-Roasted Shush Kabobs

Ingredients:

1 pineapple, reserving 3 tbsp of pineapple juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup precooked organic ham, cubed

3 bell peppers (1 green, 1 yellow, 1 red), sliced into desired shush kabob size

1 onion, peeled into desired shush kabob size

Directions:

Cut pineapple in half and cube into pieces. Reserve 3 tbsp of pineapple juice and store cubed pineapple in fridge. Combine soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, oil, garlic, and reserved pineapple juice in a bowl. Add in ham. Place in fridge and let marinate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil. With each chop stick, pierce onion, peppers, and pineapple into desired pattern. Place onto pans. Once ham has done marinating, remove ham and drizzle/rub about 3/4 of marinade over shush kabobs. Place in oven for 10-12 minutes.

Once out and cooled slightly, add on ham to each end of shush kabobs. Drizzle remaining marinade over shush kabobs before serving.

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Spicy Shrimp and Bell Pepper Pasta

For Mother’s Day, I made dinner and dessert for my mom. Unfortunately, I lost all sense of taste by dinnertime.

Darn allergies.

I was so desperate to get my taste back, that I almost drowned myself while trying to use a Netipot for the first time. Still no luck. And so, I ate this meal without knowing what it actually tasted like and bagged some for later (on the plus side though, my mom loved it).

A few days later, I went over my friend’s house where I was offered some wasabi almonds. I’ve never liked the taste of wasabi- it’s just too strong for me. Now, however, I have a respect for them cause after eating a third one- BAM! I got my taste and appetite back. Thus, I was finally able to enjoy the left overs of this dish 🙂 Better late than never!

Spicy Shrimp and Bell Pepper Pasta 

Ingredients:

16 oz pasta

1 lb uncooked shrimp

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp thyme

1 and 1/2 tbsp whole wheat flour

2 tbsp mustard with horseradish

1 cup chicken broth, divided into 1/3 cup and 2/3 cup

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 orange bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, sliced

3 tomatoes, diced

3 cups fresh spinach

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions: 

Cook pasta according to box instructions and set aside. Peel and wash shrimp and place in a bowl. In another bowl, mix together paprika, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, white pepper, chili powder, oregano and thyme. Pour seasoning over shrimp and toss together with your hands. Spray a deep skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Cook shrimp for 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another bowl, whisk together flour, mustard, and 1/3 cup chicken broth. Set aside.

Remove shrimp from skillet and replace in bowl. Respray skillet and add in peppers, onions, and garlic cloves. Sauté for 10 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and spinach and cook for 5 minutes. Add in flour mixture, 2/3 cup chicken broth, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes. Mix shrimp and veggie mixture into pasta before serving.