Today I am sharing my favourite combination of Moroccan grilled foods: beef kebab and grilled tomato and green pepper salad, also known in Morocco as chlada mechouia.  And if you don’t have a barbecue, it doesn’t mean you can’t have grilled foods. You can just do like me and use a chargrill pan, because we love grilled foods.

This beef kebab recipe is very simple and easy to prepare, the longer you will let the meat marinate, the softer and tastier the meat will get. The red onions are mainly present in this recipe so that the meat can absorb their taste and juices. It’s one of those recipes that requires just a few ingredients but still comes out packed with flavour.

Chlada mechouia is a salad we make in Morocco as a side dish next to grilled foods and sometimes tagines. It’s made of very simple ingredients (tomatoes, green peppers, olive oil and salt) that once grilled and mixed together create a velvety, flavourful and smoky salad. The best way to enjoy the salad is with crusty bread. My favourite thing to do as soon as the salad is ready, is to dip the bread in the salad, it’s soooo good, I don’t know how to describe it, I think you will have to see for yourself.  

I love the combination of these two recipes. I recommend enjoying it with bread but couscous and brown rice would also work. Enjoy!

Moroccan Beef Kebab (Beef skewers )

INGREDIENTS

Serves 3 to 4  

• 500 gr grilling steak such as fillet or sirloin cut in 3 cm (2 inch) pieces

• 3 tablespoons very finely chopped parsley

• 3 tablespoons very finely chopped coriander

• 2 red onions very finely chopped

• 1 teaspoon salt or more to taste

METHOD

• In a large bowl transfer the meat with the rest of the ingredients.

• Using your hands, mix the pieces of meat with the onions and the herbs so that the juices of the onions are well incorporated with the meat. Mix gently for 3 minutes without damaging the meat and place in the fridge for 2 to 8 hours. 

• When ready to serve, thread the pieces of meat onto the skewers.

• Cook the skewers to your liking. Serve warm with bread, couscous or rice. 

Notes

• It's important to chop the onions and the herbs very finely so that the meat can absorb the juices of the onions and the taste of the herbs while marinating. 

• The longer you will let the meat marinate, the softer and tastier the meat will get.

• You will notice that you won't use all the onions while threading the pieces of meat onto the skewers. I like to keep the remaining onions and pan fry them with an egg the next day. It's super tasty! If you are not up for it, just discard the remaining onions. 

Grilled tomato and green pepper salad(chlada mechouia)

INGREDIENTS

Serves 3 to 4  

• 400g ripe tomatoes(3 medium sized tomatoes)

• 450g sweet green peppers such as bell, padron or piquillo

• 1 green chilli (optional, only if you would like to add some heat)

• 4 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste

METHOD

• Preheat your grill or chargrill pan to high. 

• Place the green peppers, tomatoes and chilli pepper (optional) on your grill and turn occasionally every 3 to 4 minutes until each side is scorched (lightly burned) and tender.

• Remove the vegetables from the grill and set aside to cool.

• Once the vegetables have reached room temperature, peel both the tomatoes and the green peppers. I recommend using your hands rather than a knife. 

• Roughly chop the tomatoes into 1, 5 cm (1 inch) pieces. No need to deseed the tomatoes. 

• Deseed the green peppers and chop them into 1, 5 cm (1 inch) pieces. Do the same with the chilli pepper if you use one.

• Place the chopped tomatoes and the green peppers in a medium sized bowl, add the olive oil and salt. Combine the ingredients together and enjoy with bread. 

Notes

• You will notice that the tomatoes will release some water when peeling them. Depending on the type of tomatoes you will be using, the amount of water released will vary. If there is more than 4 tablespoons of water released, discard the excess of water. The goal here is to make sure that our salad doesn't become a soup.

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