Grilled vegetable skewers with zhoug are a great way to switch up your summer veggie game. Corn, baby potatoes, green onions, zucchini are brushed with a spicy cilantro and parsley based zhoug, and then grilled until slightly charred. Keep your grilling regiment fresh and different with these babies.

Each year, when summer and grilling season comes around again, I try really hard to add some new ideas and recipes to my blog recipe index. Variety is the spice of life or something like that.

I do this because I get bored with grilling the same old burgers and brats sometimes. My favorite to come out of this summer grill blog revolution so far has been my garlic parmesan chicken skewers.

Have you tried them yet?

The same day I made those guys, I whipped up a few grilled vegetable skewers with zhoug. Spicy zhoug sauce is the key to turning up the flavor on any dish. I have a recipe for zhoug in my book. I also made a similar chimichurri on the blog before, link right HERE. If you don’t feel like whirring up a sauce from scratch, Trader Joe’s sells a great zhoug.

Veggie skewers on the summertime grill can also be boring and predictable. People usually do the same old veggies; bell peppers, zucchini, squash, potatoes, tomatoes…

I added little chunks of corn cob to the skewer to switch things up a bit. I also added green onions. The smoky grill flavors really add a lot to the corn and green onion.

Blanch or parboil the potatoes and corn ahead of time to save on the grilling cook time. That’s the key to entertaining and eating in a timely manner. I boiled the corn and potatoes like 4 days in advance and just kept it in the fridge until I was ready to grill. Easy peasy.

Brush the vegetables with zhoug before and after grilling to get all the good, fresh, spicy flavor.

One note about assembling the skewers. The corn cobs need a little bit of jiggling and a little slamming to get on to the skewers in the right position. The core of the corn cob should be tender enough from boiling to not make it too hard.

You guys are going to love grilled veggie skewers with zhoug.  If you make them for a crowd, everybody will be pleasantly surprised by the switch up in the veggie regime.

Grilled Vegetable Skewers with Zhoug

Yield: 4-6 skewers

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Parboiled potatoes and corm on a skewer with green onions, bell peppers, red onion, and zucchini. Grilled to perfection and topped with spicy zhoug.

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Ingredients

• FOR THE ZHOUG:
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 cups fresh Italian Flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
• FOR THE SKEWERS:
• 2 Corn Cobs, cut into 3rds
• 10 small baby potatoes
• 1 small zucchini sliced 1 inch thick then cut into 1/2 circles
• 1/4 red onion, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks

Instructions

1. Add all the zhoug ingredients except the oil and vinegar to the food processor. Puree until finely minced. Add the vinegar. Stream in the oil with pureeing until the sauce is formed, like a pesto consistency.
2. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add corn and potatoes. Boil for 3-5 minutes until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and chill until ready to bbq.
3. Soak the wooden skewers overnight before grilling. Add a few pieces of corn, zucchini, green onions, potatoes, red onion, bell pepper to each skewer. Brush each skewer with a little bit of zhoug.
4. Grill each skewer for about 3 minutes over high heat. Add more zhoug and salty and pepper then serve.