What better way to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ than by sticking a bunch of meat and veggies on a stick and roasting them over an open fire? Well, since we couldn’t come up with one, a group of us got together and decided to celebrate our Easter with a Great Kabob Off.

Dawn won with a splendiferous veggie-kabob that included a cherry tomato stuffed with an italian-olive-and-sundried-tomato chevre spread and toasted pine nuts, then wrapped in a green onion and secured with a chive; a charred onion swiped with a roasted-garlic and sundried-tomato basil paste; a marinated portobella mushroom caps; red peppers; and a roasted rosemary-sprinkled russett potato.

Among the other contestants, we had a chili-lime chicken kabob made by yours truly, a cow-tongue kabob made by Masumi (it tasted great, by the way, just like any other piece of rough beef), a bacon-wrapped salmon kabob put together by Jamie, a tempe kabob whipped up by Julie, a shrimp kabob designed by Amber, and a curry-spiced potato and freshly-harvested leeks kabob by Derek.

We had two fantastic judges, Will and Angie, the former of whom was coming off a major flu and who had the resiliency to stick it out until the end. It was a very close competition, but Dawn had the kind of maturity that the rest of us chefs lacked.

Her honor for winning: She got to name the subject of our next “Off.” So, on May 6th, we’ll all be competing in a “Dip Off.” If you’ve got a kick-ass dip that you think might take the day, feel free to leave your recipe suggestions in the comment section below and I’ll consider making them for the Dip Off (please include a specific dipping device, since the rules make clear that the best dip/dip-device combination will determine the winner).

If you’re interested in seeing all the pictures from the Great Kabob Off, head on over to the photo album.