The marinade for this recipe is from Barbara Smith’s cookbook entitled Food that Says Welcome. I have yet to try a recipe in that cookbook that I didn’t absolutely love. I customized the recipe a bit by using it for pork kabobs. I am a HUGE fan of kabobs. I don’t know why, but for some reason meat and veggies taste so much better when they are put on a stick and grilled! Both times I have made this recipe, I have served it with Rice-a-Roni Whole Grain Blends (Chicken and Herb Classico flavor). It’s a blend of whole grain brown rice, pearled barley, and pearled wheat. It’s still high in sodium, but healthier than regular Rice-a-Roni.  Your family will love this one!

Ingredients:

 Marinade: 

1/3 cup light (low sodium) soy sauce
¼ cup olive oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 ½ teaspoons pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced 

Other:

 1 large  or 2 small pork tenderloin  (approx. 1 ½  pounds total)
1 large red onion
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
Fresh pineapple (can also used canned, but not as tasty)
Wooden skewers (whatever size you prefer)

 Instructions: 

1)      Soak several wooded skewers in water. (The amount you need will depend on the size. I use the shorter ones, which hold about 3-4 pieces of meat. I plan for each person to have 2 meat skewers, 2 veggie skewers, and 1 pineapple skewer.)

2)      Cut the pork tenderloin into 1 inch cube-like pieces and place into a large zip-lock bag.

3)      In a medium sized bowl, combine marinade ingredients and pour into bag, leaving about a tablespoon of marinade in the bowl. Set bowl aside. Make sure each piece of meat is coated with the marinade.

4)      Refrigerate meat for 1-2 hours.

5)      Meanwhile, cut the veggies and pineapple into 1-inch cube-like pieces. Add the veggies (not the pineapple) to the marinade bowl and move them around so that each piece picks up a little bit of the marinade. Set aside until you are ready to skewer them.

6)      I like to keep the meat, veggie, and pineapple on separate skewers to ensure proper cooking time, but if you like to mix things up that’s not a problem – your veggies might get a tad overdone, but they will still taste delicious. Remove the skewers from the water and add the meat, veggies, and pineapple according to your taste.

7)      Spray grill with cooking spray and heat. Grill kabobs over direct medium heat. The pork will cook for about 14 minutes total and the veggies and pineapple for about 6-8 minutes total. I like to turn them about half-way through (but keep the grill lid closed as much as possible).

 Notes: 

• This should serve 4 hungry people.
• Can substitute chicken breast for pork tenderloin.
• Use whatever veggies you like. Mushrooms are good too.
• Because the marinade has sugar in it, the kabobs will probably stick to your grill not matter what you do, so you will need to be careful when you turn or remove them. I use a small metal spatula to help me get them unstuck.