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!