Pesto Chicken Kebabs

Having defrosted a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts for dinner, I searched the refrigerator for something to add alongside in order to cobble together a meal that would satisfy all of us. I had red bell peppers and onions on hand – I defaulted to thoughts of stir-fry but did not want to hang out over the stove. I kept looking and found some pesto in the refrigerator and some baby yellow potatoes in the pantry. Since I wanted to use the grill – kebabs were the answer. Dinner on a stick - can’t get any easier than that. With some simple prep and some time to marinate the chicken in doctored-up pesto, dinner was a no-brainer. I would normally offer some quinoa or wild rice on the side, but the potatoes rounded things out, and again, I did not need to turn on the stove.

This recipe uses approximate amounts and you can substitute whatever you like. I ended up with six nice sized kebabs using 2 chicken breast halves.  If you have shrimp instead of chicken, use that. If you don’t have pesto, make a simple marinade of olive oil, lemon juice and chopped fresh herbs, or your favorite vinaigrette. If you don’t have baby potatoes, cut up chunks of sweet potato instead. If cherry tomatoes were in season right now, I would have added those as well. The point is to make it simple, easy and satisfying.

Pesto Chicken Kebabs

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

¼ cup of pesto

Juice from half a lime

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt/freshly ground black pepper

Red pepper flakes (optional)

2 bell peppers, I used red

1 large onion, I used Vidalia

12-18 baby/fingerling potatoes, I used dutch yellow baby potatoes

Makes 6 kebabs.

Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks. You don’t want them too small, but everything on the skewer needs to cook at a similar pace. In a gallon-sized Ziploc bag or covered container, mix the pesto, lime juice, oil, salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Add the chicken, toss to coat well, seal the bag, and let sit in refrigerator at least one hour. Turn the bag over once or twice to keep the chicken nicely coated in the marinade.

Cut the peppers and onions into bite sized chunks, toss with a teeny bit of oil, season with salt/pepper and set aside. Put the potatoes on a microwave safe plate and nuke for up to 3 minutes. You want them to just begin to cook through, as they will finish cooking on the grill. When they are cool enough to handle you can begin assembling your kebabs. Take the chicken out of the bag and discard the marinade.

I made six kebabs alternating in this order: potato, onion, pepper, chicken, pepper, onion, potato, onion, pepper, chicken, pepper, onion, potato because I am a sucker for symmetry. You can thread your ingredients in whatever order pleases you. 

I used metal skewers; if you are using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them in water at least a half-hour ahead of using to avoid them burning.

Preheat your grill and clean the grate. When the grill is heated to medium-high, oil the grate (I use some olive oil on a paper towel held with tongs) and get cooking. You will want to cook your kebabs over direct medium heat. Let them grill about 8-10 minutes, turning once, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables have started to take on some nice color.  If using metal skewers, be careful handling as they will be very hot.

That’s it! A really easy and healthy dinner on a stick!