Spicy Chicken Kebabs

Summer is upon us with a vengeance now ... and so healthy grills and salads are the way to go until temperatures drop. Thinking about what to buy for dinner I realised that I haven't made kebabs for quite some time so when I popped into the small village supermarket and saw the butcher (oh how lucky we are to have a real butcher!) had some organic chicken breasts I decided I really needed to make some this weekend. Mr P was over the moon when I told him as he loves this kind of thing.

What you actually thread onto the skewers is down to personal taste really. They can be with meat, or not, and cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers ... any colour you like, onion slices, cubes of aubergine and wedges of courgette are most probably the more usual choices. So that wasn't a problem, where I was looking for some inspiration was the marinade. So I went looking on the internet and found this recipe by Antony Worrall Thompson that looked pretty good. I didn't have any spring onions, in fact I haven't been able to find any all week, so I substituted with red onion. Also 20 kebabs sounded an awful lot to me, even if they are mini-sized, and so for just the two of us I halved the recipe.

The marinade was a doddle to make in the food processor. Taste testing before pouring it over the cubed chicken confirmed it was a winner of a recipe ... the orange zest and juice giving a really lovely tangy edge. I mixed the cubes of chicken and marinade in a small freezer box and placed it in the refrigerator overnight giving it an occasional shake. An hour or so would have been fine too. I found the marinade got quite thick after so long in the refrigerator and so I took the box out about an hour before wanting to make up the kebabs, mixed in the mushrooms, and left it to come to room temperature on the counter.

I opted for long wooden skewers, because that's what I had, pre-soaked for half an hour to avoid burning, and got four generous kebabs from my reduced recipe. Shorter skewers would have given eight I should think. There was quite a lot of marinade and so when I was ready to make up the kebabs I drained the cubes of chicken and mushrooms in a sieve reserving the marinade for basting. I grilled the kebabs on my iron plancha, but a griddle pan or barbecue would work well too, and served them on a bed of basmati rice with a salad garnish on the side.

Mmmmm what a fabulous meal, very Mediterranean in style, easy to prepare and light to eat. It made a bit of a mess on the plancha but this came off easily enough after a good soaking in very hot water. This marinade would work very well with pork, or even chicken joints, so I am not going to confine myself to using it for kebabs. However I may well work it up to be a bit spicier as it has a lovely deep taste but not a lot of heat.

Spicy Chicken Kebabs - Serves 2

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
knob of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 small orange, grated zest and juice
small red onion, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp clear honey
½ Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 small skinless boneless chicken breast fillets, cut into cubes
8 button mushrooms
8 cherry tomatoes
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into 8 pieces

Blitz the garlic, ginger, orange zest and red onion to a paste in a food processor. Add the honey, orange juice, soy sauce and oil, then blend again. Pour the mixture over the cubed chicken and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight. Toss in the mushrooms for the last half an hour so they take on some of the flavour too.

Thread the chicken and vegetables onto the wooden skewers - interspering the cubes of chicken with two mushrooms, two cherry tomatoes, and two pieces of red pepper on each skewer - sprinkle over a little salt, and cook on a grill for 7-8 mins each side or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and golden brown. Baste with the marinade from time to time until evenly cooked.