Meat rubs add taste to Labor Day barbecues

Monday is Labor Day.

Many of us will be home enjoying time with our friends and family.  It's the last big get together before school really rolls and takes over our schedules. Many will want to barbecue. The grill will fill the air with irresistible aromas.

One way we like to prepare our food is by using sihish kabobs. They are a great way of cooking multiple things at once. If you are going to use these, you need to remember a few tips. When you use wooden skewers, soak them over night so they don't burn. When loading on the meats and vegetables, remember to think about size. Cutting your vegetables about the same size will help them to cook at the same temperatures.

Be creative with your vegetables you choose. Firm squash, carrots, peppers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes, are just a few vegetables you can try. You can even cut fruits into chunks and grill them.

When preparing your kabobs you may want to marinate them with either a liquid marinade or a dry rub. below are some carb friendly marinades and rubs you can use.

Homemade Meat Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic minced

1 small onion minced

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons steak seasoning

2 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl place your cut of meat in a one-gallon zip lock bag or a baking dish cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 2 to 3 hours

Korean Meat 

Marinade

(Spicy or Non-Spicy)

3 tablespoons red chili pepper powder, optional

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup pear juice

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon finely minced or grated garlic

2 tablespons mirin

1 stalk roughly chopped green onion

1/4 cup roughly diced onion

2 tablespoons mirin

1/4 tablespoon black pepper

Put all ingredients except meat in bowl and mix well. If making non-spicy version, omit chili pepper powder. Add meat, taking care the sauce evenly coats slices of meat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let marinate at least 2 hours and up to one day before cooking.

Hawaiian Meat 

Marinade

1.5 Cup of soy sauce

1.5 Cup of pineapple juice

1 Cup of brown sugar, packed

1 Tablespoon of brown sugar, packed

8 garlic cloves, chopped

2 Tablespoons of fresh ginger, chopped

In a large mixing bowl combine soy sauce, pineapple juice, garlic, and ginger.

Before adding the brown sugar, take one cup of the sauce mixture and place into a separate bowl and add 1 TBSP brown sugar, this will be to marinate your meat. Add 3/4 cup brown sugar to the original marinade bowl and mix both bowls until sugar dissolves.

Place meat in freezer bag and add your meat marinade. If using pork shoulder butt, slice meat into bite sized chunks suitable for skewers, adding meat to skewers after the meat marinades overnight in the freezer bag.

Refrigerate sauce overnight.

Ultimate low carb homemade dry rub

1/4 cup low carb brown sugar

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1/2 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl. Rub all over meat and cook as desired.

Mexican Dry Rub

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl, stir together the spices. Rub spice mixture evenly over pork, coating the entire surface. Cook pork as desired, or cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes to several hours to boost flavors.

Makes about 6 tsp. One serving is 1 tbsp.