Quick Shortcuts For Grilled Pork Skewers With Peppers, Onion And Pineapple

We all know that meat, in order to be flavorful, needs to marinade before grilling.  We also know that pork tenderloin tends to be dry, as it does not have much fat; thus it must cook in some type of fat to avoid drying out.

One of my favorite shortcuts to marinade meats before grilling is the Good Seasons Italian Dressing.  You know, the one that comes with its cruet and all you do is add olive oil, vinegar and water.  I have been buying it for years, long before I became Lindaraxa and started publishing a food blog, so don't get on my case. Habits like this don't die easily.  It is one of those things that stays with you most of your life.   My daughter is the main culprit these days.   She uses it on the salads she takes to work most every day.    It was actually my brother, the grill master, who turned me on to using it as a marinade, so it runs in the family.

One of the things I found in the freezer while I was cleaning it last week was a piece of uncooked pork tenderloin I had saved from Christmas.  There were fewer of us for the Cuban Christmas Day lunch than I had anticipated so I cut off a piece and saved it for another time.  So here we were three months later.  Part of it was grilled for this recipe and the other went into Sweet and Sour Pork to use up the leftover pineapple as well.   Using up leftovers is a challenge, but it's fun.

Another product we use all the time in our marinades is Mc Cormick's Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning  which is both salty and hot.  We marinade the meat with it for about 30 minutes, together with Worcestershire Sauce. I buy the latter by the gallon and use it in every type of cuisine.  I really don't know what I would do without it.

I am not going to give you a "recipe" for this.  It doesn't need one.  You can make it for two or a dozen.  It's fairly easy and quick and great for when you are having guests at the last minute.

Figure on about 1 1/2 lbs of pork tenderloin for 4 people.  Cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Marinade the pork in the  prepared Good Seasons Italian dressing (about 1/2 cup), or any other ready made Italian dressing such as Paul Newman's, together with some orange juice (about 1/4 cup) and soy sauce (a couple of TB) for at least 30 minutes

Preheat your grill.

Cut (1 each) the onion, red pepper, green or yellow pepper and pineapple chunks in 1 inch pieces.

Thread the pork and the vegetables and pineapple through a skewer, alternating.  Try to place the meat in the middle (it needs more cooking) and the fruit and peppers at the end.  Place back in the marinade for a few more minutes until your grill is hot enough.

Shake some Montreal Seasoning on both sides before grilling.

Grill the skewers for about 5 minutes on each side.  While it is cooking, reduce the marinade on top of the stove and baste your skewers with it after each turn. When done, sprinkle some cilantro and serve. That's it!

Serve with yellow saffron rice.



I have not received payment for endorsing any of the products mentioned above

All photos Lindaraxa