Grilled Moroccan Chicken Kabobs.
Over the last few months I've been posting a series that I've called the grill series. The main purpose of the grill series has been to give you some new and interesting dinners to get you out of the kitchen and into the backyard. The second purpose has been to give you new and interesting dinners to wow your family and friends with; summer is the time to invite people over for cookouts, give them something memorable to eat. The third purpose has been to challenge you men out there(grilling is manly) to go beyond the hamburgers, brats, and hotdogs and to step up your grilling skills. To these ends I hope that I've succeeded.
As we move into October the weather is getting colder and the days are getting shorter, the kids are back in school and football season has started. It's time to put on warmer clothes, put away the lawn furniture, rake the leaves and get ready for winter. But, before it's too late, there's still time for one last hoorah.
Grilled Moroccan Chicken is a skewer or shish kebab style dinner, for the sake of brevity I am going to use the term "skewer" to describe this cooking process (see semantics). Ever since man, or probably woman, discovered that it's possible to change foods by putting them over fire we have been skewering our food and suspending it over fire. When it comes to skewers there are two types, wooden and metal. Wooden skewers are the ones that we are most familiar with, these are generally single-use, lightweight skewers made of thin dowels or bamboo.
I like to use wooden skewers when I cook in the oven or when I'm making single serving snacks or appetizers like chicken satay. The two things that you have to know about wooden skewers are that they have to be soaked in water for 30 minutes before use and if you are using them on the grill you should wrap the ends in foil to keep them from burning. Metal skewers are re-usable, capable of handling large amounts of food, and are easier to work with over an open flame.
When cooking on a grill I almost always use metal skewers; I like how easy it is to thread food onto them, their cleanability and how easy they are to flip during cooking.
Now that we have a little insight into cooking with skewers let's take a look at today's recipe.
Grilled Moroccan Chicken Kabobs
Prep time 16 Min. Cook time 16 Min. Serves 4
Ingredients
1-1/4 pounds Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon unsweetened orange juice
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 sprays cooking spray
1 large zucchini, cut into 1-inch thick half-moons
2 small red onions, quartered through the root
Instructions
Mix the chicken, orange juice, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, cumin, salt, garlic powder and pepper in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours.
Off heat, coat grill with cooking spray. Prepare gas grill for direct, high-heat grilling or build a high-heat charcoal bed in the center of the coal grate on a charcoal grill.
Divide the chicken, zucchini, and onion among four large skewers, thread the meat and vegetables over the pointy ends and down the skewers.
Set the skewers directly over the heat and grill for 16 minutes, turning about every 4 minutes onto each of the other three sides, so that all four sides are well browned.
This recipe yields 1 skewer per serving.
This is a great dinner for expanding your grilling skills and diversifying your menu so while we still have nice weather get out there, fire up the grill one last time and try this dinner out.
As I said in last months grill series this is my last post in the grill series. For those of us that are year-round grillers I will post an occasional grill recipe. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for reading this blog and trying these recipes, I hope that you are enjoying them.
As always, if you try this dinner, leave a comment and let me know how it turned out.
Next week- Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies or Happy Halloween.
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