Skewer

Serve these atop rice, and offer cherry tomatoes tossed with ranch dressing on the side. Purchased peach tarts wrap it up.

Either potato salad or bulgur salad would be lovely with these summer kebabs.

The salsa is also delicious made with diced ripe mangoes.

In central New York State where I grew up, summertime is speidie-time. Speidies are beef or chicken kabobs marinated in a locally produced spiedie sauce. Nobody makes their own; everybody buys it by the case to make it through the summer's grilling. Now that I live downstate, I've had to devise my own speidie sauce (really nothing more than a quite acidic vinaigrette), which I'm willing to share for the very first time.

Although having your guests shell their own shrimp can be a messy proposition, the result of grilling shrimp in the shell-unbelievable succulence-is worth it!

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Here's an easy-to-make entrée flavored with a spicy marinade; the shrimp are nice on a bed of salad greens or with rice.

There's something for everyone in this traditional specialty. Don't forget to soak the bamboo skewers before using them.

Cunetto House of Pasta in St. Louis has an excellent grilled skewered chicken entrée. Sometimes I even make a special trip just to have it. Could you request the recipe? Georgeann King Memphis, Tennessee

Try these as appetizers, as a salad (on a bed of greens) or as a light dessert.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Traditionally, kebabs are made of lamb or mutton, but beef, veal and even pork tenderloin are delicious cooked in this manner. Here are several versions, adaptable to any kind of meat.

The manly art of grilling reached its first peak in this decade, as dads stood by their Webers, stoking the fire and pulling dinner from its clutches while moms did the shopping and cleanup. Besides burgers and wienies, people loved to make shish kebab. Today, grilling knows no gender, and skewers remain a handy way to prepare small foods. Experience has taught us that the vegetables are best cooked separately, or not at all—as this hot-cold, tender-crunchy wonder of a sandwich illustrates.

A cucumber and red bell pepper relish and a pilaf made with fragrant rice (like basmati) are perfect partners for the lamb. For dessert, have coconut ice cream topped with sliced bananas. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.