Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Key Lime garlic chicken skewers with grilled veg

Pass it On this week is brought to us by Jenn at Jenn's food journey. I used her recipe as inspiration for this one. If you haven't already please check out Jenn's blog, she makes awesome sauces and quick yet delicious main dishes. Thanks Jenn :)

Last week I went to my favorite Mexican grocery store Rancho Liborio. I've talked about the incredible bargains I find there, please allow me to share this week's bounty with you as well.
12 key limes for .26.
3 jalapanos for .22.
3 zucchini for .55.
3 lemons for $1.
Corn tortilla chips $1.17 a bag.
8 lb watermelon for 2.30 (.33 per lb!).
Roma tomatoes, 8 for about $1.
Whole pineapple for $2.50 (admittedly not the best price ever but the little Witch really wanted it)
I spent $16 there total and had 3 reusable grocery bags full, love that! Just as a price comparison key limes are on sale this week at our Kroger affiliate - 10/$1. I got 12 for .26. Incredible deals!!

So thats why this is key lime garlic chicken, I had a lot of key limes to work with. My garden is producing a lot of oregano this year - hooray! - so I added a bit of it here, I like the subtle herbal note it gives with out an overpowering HERBED flavor. I was running low on time so I cut my chicken into long strips, giving myself a lot more surface area for the marinade to come in contact with, thus giving me a long marinated flavor in only 30 minutes.

Skewering or making kabobs is a favorite of mine in the summer. There's just something about food cooked on a stick that is yummy. I also like that you get lots of surface area exposed to the fire to create flavorful browning. The veggie kabobs were simply comprised of veg that needed to get used up, now. They were delicious. We rounded out the meal with a bit of brown rice. Everyone enjoyed this spring time dinner!

Key Lime garlic chicken
makes 3 servings
3 key limes, reserve one to be juiced on the cooked product
zest of 2 key limes
3 cloves garlic minced (garlic press works fine)
1/2 t kosher salt
dash ground pepper
1 small sprig oregano minced (about 1/2 t fresh, can use 1/4 t dried oregano)
2 T EVOO
2 chicken breasts cut into 1 in wide strips

Veggies:
whatever you have around the kitchen, I had 2 zucchini cut into 2 in pieces, 1/4 onion, 1/2 yellow bell pepper and a few handfuls of grape tomatoes. Cover all cut veggies with about 1 T EVOO and 3-4 generous pinches of kosher salt, tossing to coat evenly. Thread veggies onto soaked skewers.



In a small bowl mix the lime juice, zest, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano together. Stir well to dissolve the salt. Slowly drizzle in the oil and mix well to emulsify.

Slice chicken against the grain into 1 in wide strips. Place strips in a zip top bag. Pour lime mixture onto the chicken, being sure to evenly cover all pieces. Seal up bag and allow meat to marinade on counter for 30 minutes.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: to avoid burning bamboo skewers when grilling, soak the skewers in hot water for at least 30 minutes before threading food onto them. The soaking will hydrate the bamboo and help them from not burning up as quickly.~*~

Skewer chicken onto soaked bamboo skewers (3-4 skewers). Discard any left over marinade.

Grill chicken and veggies over a hot fire, cooking chicken about 15 minutes or until internal temp reaches 160. Squeeze remaining key lime over top of chicken and veggies before serving.



Nutrition Facts
Key Lime Garlic chicken skewers with grilled veg
3 Servings

Amount Per Serving
Calories 303.2
Total Fat 11.9 g
Saturated Fat 2.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 7.2 g
Cholesterol 91.3 mg
Sodium 498.7 mg
Potassium 748.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate 12.8 g
Dietary Fiber 3.2 g
Sugars 0.8 g
Protein 38.2 g

12 comments:

Siri said...

Yummmmmmmm

Out of the Box into the Kitchen said...

this sounds excellent and what awesome deals you got!

Unknown said...

those look soooo good!

Unknown said...

Looks fabulous Andrea!! I'm gonna have to definitely try it this way. Thanks for the plug too, it's always appreciated! What a screaming deal you got at the store! I think I need to shop anywhere but here!! LOL Arizona is expensive no matter where you go!

Unknown said...

These look fantastic and it's so true about the food tasting great when cooked on a stick! I also love how beautifully fresh and healthy they are. Brown rice was the perfect side too. I'm realizing how important using zest is in so many dishes - zest and like you said, "subtle herbal notes" and you can't go wrong!

tasteofbeirut said...

These are some amazing bargains! I love that key lime flavor with chicken , yummy!

Stephen C said...

Holy cow, did you grill last night? In the cold? We woke up to a dusting of snow this am. Your skewers look lovely. I should do something like this, although on the stovetop grill - I gave up cooking outdoors a couple of years ago.

Sook said...

Looks delicious and healthy!

Baking Addict said...

You're making me hungry! Looks extremely delicious as always. I love a good bargain. If I lived closer I'd be there now :) Thanks for the tip about soaking the skewers.

Lorraine said...

This looks delicious. I also love kabobs; cooking pretty much the whole meal at once is the best. These sound great. I like your choice of veggies. I would never have thought to put zucchini but I like it! Wow! Those deals you got are incredible. Don't you just love a good deal? I wish I had a store like that near me. Definitely going to make these. Thanks.

Also, thanks for the words of encouragement on my blog. You are so nice.

Jennifer said...

These look great! I love citrus! The key limes and garlic really set this off, I bet. I like how you're using zucchini on your skewers too. I think I'm going to have a bumper crop this year.

Snooty Primadona said...

For some crazy reason I bought a whole bag of key limes last week & had no idea what I was going to do with them. Now I know. So, thank you!

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