Don't mix meat and veggies on the same skewer.

Yep, that’s the whole trick. Put all your chicken on one skewer, all your peppers on another, and all your onions on a third.

The problem is cook time. Bell peppers and onions char beautifully in about 4-6 minutes over direct heat. Chicken thighs take 10-12. Beef cubes might take 8. If you thread them all on one stick, by the time the meat is done the veggies are ash—or you pull early and the meat is raw. Separate skewers let you pull each group at its perfect moment.

A few other things:

• Cut everything to similar size. A 1-inch chunk of beef and a 1-inch chunk of zucchini will still cook differently, but at least the geometry is fair.
• Use flat metal skewers if you can. They hold the meat in place and transfer heat better than round wooden ones. If you use wood, soak them 30 minutes first.
• Leave a little space between pieces. Overcrowding steams instead of grills.
• For mixed skewers that look pretty on a platter, cook them separately, then re-skewer onto fresh sticks after they come off the heat. That’s what restaurants do.

This is one of those things where doing it the obvious way (mixing everything on one stick) guarantees mediocre results. Separate skewers = even cooking, less stress, better dinner.