Chicken and Vegetable Kabobs

     When we do get a nice day in Syracuse, a rarity I know, I like to bust out my charcoal grill. I believe that everything tastes better grilled, but it has to be charcoal not propane. Propane is good but doesn’t give you the same flavor that charcoal does. Kabobs are a quick thing to make using a grill. While the coals heat up, you can get all the prep work done. I marinated two chicken breasts all day in state fair speedie sauce. I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces which made about four skewers worth. For vegetables I cut up three peppers, one yellow, one red, and one orange. In addition to the peppers we added baby bella mushrooms that came pre cut and I chopped a sweet Vidalia onion as well. We were able to make five skewers of vegetables with two of them having no mushrooms on them because Matt was coming over.

     Once the coals were glowing red, Matt dumped them into the grill. Before putting the vegetable skewers on the grill, I brushed them with the speedie sauce that I left in the bottle. To prevent sticking, I sprayed the grate with some non-stick butter spray. Be very careful if you do this after you put the grate over the coals because the spray is flammable and flares will shoot up when you spray. Using a small circular grill is tough when making kabobs because the heat usually gets centralized so you may have to move the kabobs around as you cook them in ensure the chicken cooks through and the vegetables get softened. I ran into this problem but using my trusty Ov-Glove, I was able to move the kabobs all around without burning my fingers. While the chicken and vegetables cooked, I brushed them with speedie sauce occasionally to keep them from burning. Cooking times are going to be different depending on the amount of coals you use, the meat you are cooking, and how much space you have on the grill.

     We all enjoyed the flavoring that the speedie sauce gave the vegetables and chicken. The chicken was moist yet had a bit of a crunch on the outside which was a nice change in texture. The mushrooms practically fell apart upon removing them from the skewers and were my favorite ingredient. The peppers softened some but still had a crunch to them. Charring on the onions gave them a smoky flavor that went well with the sweetness that they give off. Sweet ingredients like the peppers and the onion benefit greatly from being grilled because the charred flavor gives them extra flavor and texture. As a side we had white rice, which Christine suggested as a lighter component to a very seasoned dish. This was a great choice, Christine and Matt had butter on theirs while I had soy sauce. Overall, a good meal that I will definitely make again as long as the weather allows it.

Rating: Yummy - This was one of the quickest meals I've made thus far.