Eating In is coming to you one day early this week to allow you to prepare for your Fourth of July cookout. Plus we know no one is going to be sitting in front of their computers reading blogs tomorrow. We’re sure you can guess what the theme for this edition might be. If you answered “What is Summer Cookout Food” then you are correct!

There are a few things to consider when preparing cookout food. One obviously being easy handling- the less utensils the better. This is why we decided to do a kebab. Another component is seasonality of ingredients. We went with three in abundance right now: pineapple, avocados, and corn. The most important piece to the puzzle is the grill. With all of these things in mind we came up with Beef and Pineapple Kebabs with a Chimichurri-inspired Cilantro marinade served over Grilled Corn and Avocado salad.

Like any good kebab we marinated the meat overnight, so make sure you plan ahead, although a few hours would suffice in a pinch. For the meat we headed down to The Organic Butcher and chose some hanger steak. The marinade is fairly versatile and can be used on chicken, lamb, shrimp, etc. The corn can also be grilled ahead, but hold off mixing with the avocado until closer to the cookout (no one likes oxidized avocado). The salad is tossed with a simple Rice Wine Vinaigrette.

Whatever you decide to do this July 4th we want to wish you Happy Grilling!

Shopping List:

¾ pound hanger steak
4 cloves garlic
1 small jalapeno
2 limes
1 bunch cilantro
1 red onion
1 avocado
1 small pineapple
2 ears of corn
1 head Boston bibb lettuce
1 tbsp honey
Rice wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Skewers

Recipe:
1. Prepare the marinade. Chop 1 bunch cilantro and 4 cloves of garlic. Mix in a bowl with the juice of 2 limes and ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil.
2. Trim the fat off of the steak and cut into medium size cubes. Toss with marinade in a Ziploc bag and leave refrigerated overnight.
3. Dice the red onion and pineapple to medium size pieces. Skewer the pieces of marinated beef, pineapple and red onion. Rub with left over marinade and refrigerate until ready to grill.
4. Heat your grill. Shuck your corn by peeling of the husks. Grill each side of the corn for about 3 minutes, or until it is slightly charred on each side. When the corn is finished cooking and has cooled, cut the corn kernels off of the cob.
5. Season the kebabs with salt and pepper. Place on the grill. Rotate every 2 minutes until kebabs are cooked to desired finish on all sides.
6. Make the vinaigrette: whisk together 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp honey, ½ tsp. salt.
7. Wash the lettuce leaves and chop roughly. Dice the avocado. Toss the lettuce, corn, avocado and vinaigrette.
8. Place the salad on a platter and top with kebabs.