Month-of-Chicken: Hot Orange Chick-Ke-Bab

My family has always loved shish-ke-bab, and we’ve made them with all kinds of meats as well as straight veggie. I think it’s the playing with your food part that appeals to them. I know it’s not standard equipment, but we have skewers in our camper!

The hardest part of S-K-B is cutting up the foods for cooking, so this makes a perfect camping (or at home) dinner because you prepare the ingredients a day or two ahead--when you have time--put in zipper bags, and let people assemble their own skewers for grilling when you’re ready to cook.

Clean up is easy, too! The thing about shish-ke-bab is to cut the meat in bite-sized pieces for even cooking. The other thing is metal skewers are best for cooking meat-based shish-ke-bab. The heat transfers better so they cook faster than on wooden skewers. If using wooden skewers, soak the heck out of them. They won’t burn quite as quickly that way--but they will burn!

Another thing to know is that the acid in the wine and the OJ does part of the cooking for you before you add the heat. Leaving the meat too long in the marinade affects the texture, so watch it. More is not always better.

Hot Orange Chick-Ke-Bab (Serves 6-8)

1/3 c white wine
3 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

one orange, zested
2 oranges, juiced
2 t red pepper flakes

4 chicken breasts, cut in bite-sized cubes
1 large onion, quartered and separated
1 green pepper, cut into squares

1 small zucchini, sliced

1 small yellow crookneck squash, sliced

16 mushrooms
16 cherry tomatoes

Mix the wine, olive oil, minced and sliced garlic, zest, orange juice, and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Put ¾ of the liquid in a zipper bag. Add cubed chicken and swish around to cover all the meat. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or up to 8 hours, along with the ¼ reserved marinade.

Preheat the grill to high. Remove chicken and let drain while you marinate the veggies in the sauce for 5 minutes. Remove veggies and let drain. Discard the marinade. Thread the chicken and veggies onto skewers. Get the reserved ¼ marinade from the refrigerator.

3. Cook on the hot grill, turning and brushing frequently with the reserved ¼ of marinade, for 7-8 minutes, or until cooked through. [May be longer with wooden skewers.]

Serve with mixed rice to which you added dried cranberries and walnuts. A fruit salad is a nice accompaniment, too.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up. He loves to grill, and he prefers chicken to beef when we shish-ke-bab. He likes the combo of fruit and hot in this dish.