Moxy Thoughts

Is it me or did the Fourth of July come REALLY fast this year?  I’m a huge fan of any holiday that brings together family, friends and fireworks plus super warm weather and Fourth of July in my mind is the perfect one.  There’s no pressure to be fancy or fussy.  Instead it’s a holiday made for smiles, swimming pools and lots of laughter.  Last year, our friends brought over some fancier fireworks and it made for memories that my kids and I will treasure for a lifetime.  For me, this is a holiday I always look forward to.

So, to wish America a very happy Independence Day, I’m going to share some of my favorite recipes that are easy to make  and guaranteed to be crowd pleasers, even for your pickiest eaters.  You can choose any protein or vegetable that you like most for your kabobs, but my tip is to separate all the meat from the vegetables as the cooking time is just too different to put them all on one stick.  Do your veggies separately, but season in the same spices you do your protein so that the meal feels like it works together and you’ll save yourself the sadness of burned tomatoes and undercooked chicken.  To make your Fourth even easier, marinade the proteins and vegetables (in separate gallon size zip top bags) the night before and all you’ll have to do the day of is spear them onto your kabob and grill!

I like to use our Moxy Kitchen North African seasoning on Shrimp, something about the way the warm flavors mix with the shellfish just make me happy.  But, if you’re not a fan of the more exotic taste that the Moxy Kitchen North African Seasoning gives, you can simply swap it for the Moxy Kitchen Steak Seasoning (which we really need to rename!) or the Moxy Kitchen Mediterranean Spice for more classic flavors.  For the Chicken, we used the Moxy Kitchen Yucatan Spice Mix, but again, you can easily swap for either of the other 2.  Again, just make sure to use the same seasoning on the proteins that you use on your vegetables and the whole thing will turn out great.

One last idea, kabobs love sauces to dip in.  We’ve been working on a few back here in our test kitchen and love the flavor we get when we use either Sour Cream or Plain Greek Yogurt mixed with any one of our seasoning packs.  A tablespoon per cup generally gives you just the right balance of cream to seasoning, but feel free to adjust to your own taste buds.  For Kabobs, I like to serve 2-3 dips for each protein to create fun and flavorful customizations for everyone.  If you’re using the North African or Yucatan Spice mixes, try the Spicy Cinnamon mixed into your yogurt – it’s a beautiful mix of heat and sweet that will bring your kabobs to life!

We hope that you have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the day as much as we plan to do.  Please let us know if you’ve tried our recipes and any feedback you may have.  Plus, please send pictures and we’ll happily post and tag you on our social media sites @moxykitchen on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Do Good, Eat Great, Put Some Moxy on your Plate!