Greek Street Pork Kabobs

There is an interesting story behind these kabobs.  This recipe was created by my mother, after she recreated some yummy oregano pork kabobs she had from vendors on the streets in Greece during her travels there.  My father was based in Tripoli, Libya during the late 1960's with the Air Force.  (In fact, they were there the day Muammar Gaddafi took the country over, but that is another story in itself!)  They were right on the Mediterranean Sea, and took many little excursions to surrounding countries, Greece being one of them.  They loved these simple pork kabobs you could find from street vendors.  They are seasoned heavily with oregano, and have that whole lemon/garlic/olive oil thing going on as well.  What's not to love with that combo?  In fact, there is so much garlic used, and even cooked with the pork, I joked that I should call them "I'll have some pork with my garlic kabobs"... ;)

Here is what you will need...

Pictured above is a pork tenderloin,  olive oil, garlic salt, Greek seasoning, ground oregano (must be the powder kind, not the leaf), pepper, garlic, and lemon.  You will also need some 8 to 12 inch skewers as well.   It is best to get the pork marinating in the morning.  You simply cut up your pork tenderloin into very small cubes.  (Probably just over a 1/2 inch)  They need to be small and bite size, just large enough to fit on a skewer, much much smaller than normal sized pieces of meat you would normally see on a kabob.  I then also slivered almost a whole head of garlic cloves, and juiced an entire lemon.  The pork should marinate most of the day in a plastic bag with the garlic slivers, lemon juice, and olive oil.  Once the pork is marinating, you can make your spice mixture that you sprinkle onto the kabobs right before grilling.  When it is about dinner time, you simply skewer the pork and garlic onto some skewers, and sprinkle on the spice mixture.  I probably placed a sliver of garlic every 2 to 3 pieces of pork!  Believe me, this is what makes it so good!

Here is a photo of skewering the pork and garlic...

And the spice mixture being sprinkled on... Ready to be grilled baby!

Mmmmm, so good!

Here is the recipe:

Greek Street Pork Kabobs

1 Pork tenderloin
Olive Oil (Probably somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
Juice of one lemon
Garlic, almost a whole head, cloves slivered thin
1 Tbs. ground oregano (powdered form, not leaf)
3 tsp. Greek seasoning
2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. pepper (preferably freshly ground)
8 to 12 inch wooden or metal skewers, probably around 8 of them

Cut pork tenderloin up into very small bite sized pieces, about 1/2 an inch or so.  Place pork in a ziploc plastic back along with the garlic slivers, lemon juice, and olive oil.  Marinate in the refrigerator most of the day.

Mix remaining spices in a small bowl and set aside til ready to grill.

Shortly before dinner, skewer the pork onto the kabobs, placing a garlic sliver every 2 to 3 pieces of pork.  Sprinkle generously with the spice mixture on all sides.  Grill about 2 minutes per side until just done.  About 4 to 6 minutes total on the grill.  They meat is cut small so they cook fast!

Enjoy!

Some yummy side suggestions...

As you can see in the picture above, I served my kabobs with a nice orzo salad, and this cucumber and chickpea salad from Bush's.  To make the orzo, I simply cooked a 1/2 pound of orzo in some chicken broth, drained it, then tossed it with the juice of 1/2 a lemon, a Tbs. of olive oil, 2 Tbs. of toasted pine nuts, 1/3 cup of crumbled feta, and a little chopped flat leaf parsley.  YUM!