Chermoula Seitan and Squash Kebabs

This weekend I broke out the trusty Foreman grill yet again, and made these kebabs with seitan, zucchini, and yellow squash. Two cookbooks - Donna Klein's Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, and Marcus Samuelsson's pan-African The Soul of a New Cuisine, inspire the chermoula sauce - I have my combined adaptation below, with a little of my own tinkering. Chermoula features fresh herbs like cilantro and parsley, a citrus tang from lemon juice and zest, and an array of ground spices that complement each other very nicely. It's traditional in Morocco and Tunisia, and seems highly versatile - I think it would be great with roasted veggies, in fresh salads with raw ingredients, and as a marinade or rub for anything on the grill.

My take on chermoula sauce:

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 cup parsley (I used flat leaf parsley)

juice from a lemon, plus a tsp. or so lemon zest

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp. paprika

1 1/2 tsp. cumin powder

1 tsp. ancho chili powder

1 tsp. red pepper powder

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. brown sugar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Chermoula tossed with chunks of seitan, zucchini, and yellow squash.

I processed the chermoula ingredients in the food processor, scraping everything together a couple of times until I had a paste with fairly coarse pieces. The seitan chunks and squash pieces were tossed in the chermoula, left for about an hour, placed on bamboo skewers, and grilled for around 5 to 7 minutes, until the squash and seitan had browned nicely with some blackened grill marks. The squash is still a little firm, but zucchini and yellow squash are soft enough that they really don't need additional cooking time. I drizzled a little more lemon on the kebabs, and the combined flavors of the marinade were tangy and spicy, with just the right amount of heat.