Potato Skewers with Spicy Yogurt Sauce

I wanted to do something with potatoes before the barbecue season ends! You can of course make it throughout the year in your oven (the way I did, because I don’t own a grill) but the recipe will definitely taste better when you make it on a grill while drinking beer & surrounded with your friends.

I made a simple marinade with garlic, olive oil and sweet paprika and tossed the veggies in it. Later I arranged them on skewers and baked them in the oven for about 20 to 30 minutes. If you have a grill - please try this recipe on that. I made a spicy yogurt dip to go with the skewers. The sauce balances out the flavors very nicely and sort of completes the dish. Just for fun - I also grilled some pineapple chunks with the same marinade…it turned out quiet nice.

Once you have the veggies ready- you can do many things with it. I served some of the skewers over rice with the sauce and made tortilla wraps with the rest of them. I really liked the wraps - its is such a perfect thing to make for lunch with any leftover skewers.

A blogger, Becky from Pixie Wishes & Forehead Kisses was kind enough to feature my blog on her’s. Its a series of some questions & answers about my inspiration for cooking, tips on photography and some other interesting stuff. You can check it out here

Serving about 8 to 10 skewers

Cooking time 20 minutes plus baking/grilling time

Things you will need:

4 medium sized potatoes

handful of pearl onions

handful of cherry tomatoes

1 package button mushrooms

For the marinade

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbs (heap-full) sweet paprika

4 to 5 cloves of garlic

salt

First put the marinade together. Take garlic cloves, place them in a piece of aluminum foil, pour some olive oil (about 2 tsp) on it, shake a bit to toss the garlic cloves in olive oil. Close the foil and put it in a preheated oven at 350F for about 20 minutes. This will cook the garlic cloves and make them taste sweet. Once this step is done, peel the garlic - they are ready to use. In a blender, add all the ingredients and mix till it forms a smooth paste.

For the veggies: clean the potatoes and make sure there is no grit left on it. Half boil the potatoes. Once they are cool, cut them in 3 lengthwise or quarter them if they are too big. For the mushrooms - clean and take the stems out. Toss the veggies in the marinade till they are covered completely. Let it sit (covered) for 30 minutes. Arrange the veggies on the skewers and bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 30 minutes or till the potatoes are tender. You can even cover the baking tray with some foil for the first 15 minutes - this will prevent the veggies from getting too dry.

For the spicy yogurt sauce

1 cup plain yogurt

1 green chili or jalapeno, de-seeded and roughly chopped

1 clove garlic

1 cup fresh cilantro

juice of half lemon

salt

In a blender add everything except the yogurt and pulse to form a coarse paste - you don’t want it to turn into a cilantro chutney, it should be a little chunky. In a bowl whip the yogurt till it is free of any lumps. Add a little water to it if you feel its too thick. Add the cilantro mix to the yogurt - mix well, taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve cool over the skewers.