I have never made kebabs before. Strange, because they are so easy and family (or picky eater) friendly. If you have lots of kitchen helpers you don't even have to assemble them yourselves.
I started the chicken marinating right after I cleaned up the lunch dishes and it worked out perfectly. You can marinade the chicken for as little as 30 minutes and as long as overnight.
Ingredients
2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
1 large red onion, cut & separated into 1" pieces
2 large garlic cloves, grated & divided
1 lemon, juice and zest of
2 tbsp basil or oregano, dried
1 + 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 + 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, divided
2 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
1 large zucchini, cut into 1/2" thick rounds
3 large bell peppers, cut into 1" pieces
Cooking spray
Directions
If using wooden skewers, soak in water for at least 30 minutes.
In a large bowl add chicken, olives, onion, 1 garlic clove, lemon juice + zest, basil or oregano, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper. Toss to combine and coat the chicken evenly. Let marinate at least 30 minutes. The longer meat marinates, the more flavourful it is and less cooking time is required.
Toss zucchini and bell peppers with remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. If marinating meat overnight, you can do this step right before grilling.
To make garlic oil, combine olive oil and 1 garlic clove in a small bowl and set aside.
Skewer the meat alternating with olives, red onion and vegetables onto each skewer. I ended up using 5 - 6 pieces of chicken, 2 zucchini slices, 3 - 4 bell pepper slices on each out of 10 long metal skewers.
Discard remaining marinade. (It may be tempting to save it, but don't! It isn't safe cooking practices)
Preheat the grill on low - medium heat, around 500 degrees F, and spray with cooking spray. Grill skewers with lid closed turning every 2 - 3 minutes for even grilling.
Kebabs are ready when chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
* Remove from the grill and brush each skewer with garlic oil. Serve hot with your favourite whole grain and/or salad.
Enjoy!!
We tried to cook enough chicken to try a second recipe with the greek style chicken. Stay tuned for our next post that will be Gyros with Kebab Chicken. ( If somebody else doesn't get to the leftovers before I do).
