Easy Peasy Asian Kebabs

Kebabs are great, they're so easy. Take some meat, some veggies, a little sauce; grill it all up and dinner's ready. Too cold/rainy/windy to grill? Broil them under the second highest rack in the oven. If using wooden skewers, soak them for about 15 minutes so they don't catch fire. That's a little more flame-grilled flavor than anyone needs.

Asian Pork Kebabs
We used pork for these kebabs, but you could easily use chicken, beef or shrimp, or skip the meat and just load up the skewers with a bunch of veggies. And for the veggies, again use whatever you like. Just be sure to either cut everything the same size so it cooks evenly, or make separate skewers for the various ingredients so they can be grilled for different lengths of time.

Wine
We drank a pinot noir from Robert Sinskey Vinyards, another of our Napa favorites. We buy the Los Carneros pinot in half bottles, which for us is perfect for weeknight dinner. On our recent visit to the vinyard we learned the vinyard owner began bottling the pinot in half bottles when his wife, Maria, was pregnant. That way he could have wine with their dinner and not worry about finishing an entire bottle. It's nice to know that someone who owns a vinyard, and has almost unlimited access to great wine, also worries about finishing the bottle.

Asian Pork Kebabs
2 Tablespoons oyster flavored sauce
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger (from a 1-inch piece)
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chili paste (or to taste)
3/4 pound pork tenderloin
1 bunch green onions
1/2 pound snap peas
1/2 yellow bell pepper

Combine first 5 ingredients to make glaze, and set aside.  Cut the pork tenderloin into 3/4 inch slices, the green onions into 2 inch pieces, and the bell pepper into about 1 1/2 inch chunks; trim the snap peas.  Thread all onto skewers and grill, turning occasionally, until pork is cooked through and the veggies are charred, about 9 minutes.  Brush kebabs with glaze and grill for another minute, turning once (and brushing again with glaze after turning).

Serve with brown rice.  For quick weeknight dinners, we keep frozen brown rice on hand.  A few minutes in the microwave and it's good to go.  Easy peasy.