It’s the time of year when people are firing up their grills for summer cookouts, but it’s also time for those April showers that drive people indoors – especially in Louisville this year. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some of your favorite grill bites. For example, all you need is a sheet pan and grill rack for these beef kabobs with roasted coleslaw from “101 Things To Do With a Sheet Pan” by Madge Baird.

Baird is the author of five previous cookbooks and is a seasoned cookbook editor. She lives in northern Utah, where she manages a large garden, a small orchard, three sheep, and a flock of laying hens. This fun book offers easy-to-follow recipes for appetizers, breakfasts, beef suppers, poultry suppers, fish suppers, pork suppers, other mains and sides, roasted vegetables and quarter sheet desserts.

The recipes below seem like the perfect fix when you’re longingly staring through the rain at your grill, craving some meat. Other fun recipes include Figgy Goat Cheese Baguettes, Ham & Swiss Breakfast Bars,and Roasted Peaches & Nectarines with crème fraîche & Basil.

Beef Kabobs with Roasted Coleslaw

Oven Temp: 450 Degrees

Cook Time: 15 to 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Beef Kabobs

1 pound beef tenderloin or top sirloin

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 medium zucchini

16 small button mushrooms

16 cherry tomatoes

1 or 2 layers of a red onion

Favorite smoky barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Fit a stainless steel grill rack or baking rack over a half of a sheet pan and coat it with nonstick spray. Set out 8 skewers (bamboo or metal).

Cut beef into 32 equal-sized chunks (4 per stick). Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Remove zucchini ends and cut in half lengthwise. Then, cut each half into 8 pieces. Brush any dirt off the mushrooms. Cut the onion layer(s) into 16 pieces. Alternately thread the meat and vegetable pieces snugly onto the skewers, beginning and ending with a piece of meat.

Lay the kabobs at an angle on the grill rack and place (with sheet pan) in oven. After about 8 minutes, brush tops of meat pieces with barbecue sauce; turn kabobs over and brush sauce on the other side. Continue cooking until meat is done to your liking (depending on thickness of meat), 5-8 minutes. Residual heat will continue cooking it a little more after you remove from the oven.

Roasted Coleslaw

3 cups shredded green cabbage

1 cup shredded red cabbage

1 apple (Golden Delicious, Gala, any crisp variety), cut into matchsticks

1 large carrot, shredded

2 green onions, sliced

2 teaspoons chopped parsley

Slaw Dressing

1/2 cup Miracle Whip

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat half of a sheet pan with nonstick spray. Toss the cabbage, apple, and carrot together in a medium bowl. Spread about 3/4 inch thick on prepared half of the sheet pan. Roast until the vegetables and apple just begin to soften or brown, but not for more than 12 minutes. Turn with a spatula once during cooking. Transfer it back to the bowl. 

In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the roasted vegetables; toss well to coat. F&D