Monday Meals: Chicken & Veggie Kabobs

Woo hoo! We finally have our first few days of steamy, hot weather here in Wisconsin! We're able to sit in the yard, chase the dogs and the kid around with a hose and even break out some water balloons. We're thrilled.

The only thing we're NOT thrilled with, is the idea of cooking, and heating up the entire house when we turn the stove on. This is when the grill becomes our best friend. Last Friday we had chicken breasts defrosted, and a bunch of vegetables from our CSA pick up. Instead of stir frying them like we intended, our Wisconsin Cool Dad thought making chicken and vegetable kabobs for the grill sounded like a better idea. 

Chicken & Veggie Kabobs

1 cup olive oil
1 cup soy sauce
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, defrosted and cut roughly into 1" chunks
Vegetables (we went with green pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms)- cut into thick slices

Pour olive oil and soy sauce into a bowl, whisk to combine. Place cut up chicken into a Ziploc bag, and add 1/3rd of the marinade. Seal the bag, and shake well to make sure chicken is coated in the olive oil and soy sauce. Place in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.

Place cut up vegetables into another Ziploc bag (don't put chicken and vegetables into the same bag- you don't want to worry about any cross contamination issues) and add the remainder of the marinade. Seal the bag and shake well to coat the vegetables. Place on the counter for 30-60 minutes. 

Once the meat and chicken are well marinated, fire up the grill for medium heat. While the grill is heating, skewer your vegetables and chicken. We recommend putting the chicken and vegetables on separate skewers; in case you have vegetarians, or picky eaters. Or, picky eaters that are also vegetarians. See our picture below- we skewered over a large cookie sheet in an attempt to prevent a huge mess in the kitchen. We were mostly successful in this. 

Side note on skewers: we used metal skewers; but if you use wood- make sure you soak them in water before using them. This will prevent them from starting on fire once you place them on the grill. 

Place skewers on the grill. You want to turn them occasionally to make sure they cook throughout. The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees (this should take about 15-20 minutes to cook). You know the chicken is done when the juices run clear. The vegetables are done when they're tender (but not mushy). 

This is an easy weeknight meal that takes minimal prep time, and you can customize it to include vegetables and meat you and your guests like. Bonus points- this is a great recipe to make with kids- they'll love picking out the vegetables for their very own skewers. We look forward to sharing more recipes like this with you as summer continues!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew