This has been the strangest summer. The rain has been non-stop. The oak trees surrounding our house have dripped and weeped constantly. The flower pots have overflowed resulting in rotting plants with no hope of recovery. The herb garden is not doing well. But the two hydrangea plants that I put in place are thriving. I keep asking myself why this summer is so different. By this time in the year we are usually hot and dry. Not so this year.
I took this picture last week. The low hanging clouds are obvious, as are the drips of water clinging to our screen. The porch was gloomy and not at all inviting. But this week the weather has improved and we felt that summer had returned to the lake.
It was a pleasure to fire up the grill and enjoy dinner on the porch.
One of my favorite ways to cook chicken breasts is by cubing them and putting them on skewers with peppers and pineapple chunks. The peppers and pineapple chunks are marinated in one bag and the chicken in another bag. The marinade is a combination of soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Mirin is rice wine and an ingredient in teriyaki sauce. The marinade from the pineapple and peppers is used to baste the skewers as they cook.
It was good to have this summertime favorite from the grill as the sun was setting in the west. I served it over a bed of rice pilaf. I have blogged about this recipe before, but it was at least two years ago. So here it is again in case you missed it the first time. That time I served it with an orange and rice salad. You can find the orange and rice recipe here.
TERIYAKI CHICKEN SKEWERS
Makes 3 servings (can easily be doubled)
3 boneless chicken breast halves cut into 2″ squares
1 green pepper, cut into 1″ squares
1 red pepper, cut into 1″ squares
1/2 fresh pineapple, cut into 1″ squares
2 Tbls sugar
4 Tbls Soy Sauce
4 Tbls Mirin (sweetened sake) If you can’t find this, eliminate the soy and use 8 Tbls teriyaki sauce
6 wooden skewers, soaked in water
Place chicken pieces (you should have 18 pieces) in one large baggie. Place pepper and pineapple pieces in another baggie. Mix sugar, soy and mirin (or teriyaki sauce) in small sauce pan and heat just until sugar dissolves. Cool. Pour half of marinade over chicken and the other half over the peppers and pineapple. Marinate for 1 to 2 hours.
Thread ingredients on six wooden skewers alternating. You should have three each of red pepper, pineapple, chicken and green pepper.
Prepare grill. It should be hot. Spray grill with oil and grill the skewers turning as needed and basting with the marinade from the veggies and pineapple, until chicken is cooked, approximately 10 minutes.
Your chicken skewers are so colorful Penny. I know you are pleased the rain has stopped. We haven’t gotten quite as much as you have. Funny, we come to the mountains from Florida to escape the rain and what do we get – more rain! Go figure.
Sam
What beautiful photographs, Penny! The skewers are gorgeous and I’ll wager taste as good as they look. They are a real treat. Have a wonderful weekend. Blessings…Mary
I love your grill recipes, Penny. I could gobble that right down! I so miss having a grill.
Weather in S. Florida has been pretty much true to form. Hot and late afternoon showers. Keeping my fingers crossed that no hurricanes head our way!
I love kebobs and these look wonderful. I know what you mean about the weather. We have not been able to finish the pavers under the pergola and we have hardly eaten outside at all this summer. Your pictures are beautiful Penny.
The kebabs look delicious Penny and I need to use more chicken for them as my beef is always overcooked when the veggies get done. I keep telling myself that all the rain is creating some issues and inconvenience but drought can be a disaster.
What a beautiful setting even in the rain. Such a crazy summer this year. We didn’t have a single day of rain the whole month of July. Very unusual for Oregon. It always rains on the 4th of July. I forget about making kebobs on the grill. Thanks for the reminder. Have a great weekend.
I’m always happy to have another way of preparing chicken breasts – so handy to grill in the summer time. These look really good!
Penny I’ve been looking through your past posts and I’m overwhelmed with all of these delicious recipes! I can’t wait to try few these myself, especially that poached it looks amazing!
As always I truly enjoyed my visit today!
My husband and I are hosting a big family party in a couple weeks and I’ve been collecting all kinds of kebabs recipes. We’re planning on a varity — seafood, beef, chicken, sausage — and this one has happily come to the top of the pile. Thanks, Penny.
Those are some pretty kabobs and I love the flavor profile. Pineapple and peppers always works for me.
Our summer is just getting started, but it’s always like that. We’ll have warm to hot days until October. Love this recipe!