Cooking with Rod

By Rod Cohenour 

 

Let’s Get Grilling!

Summer has arrived. It is an early guest for most of the countryside. This meal is one that can be quickly assembled in a cool kitchen and cooks in short order as well. The fresh salad is a perfect accompaniment to the tasty kabobs. The only thing that requires a hot stove top is the rice and even that is optional although we love to serve it.

If you’re not familiar with jicama, ask your green grocer. They will, undoubtedly, have one or two on hand. A jicama looks a great deal like a cross between a potato and a turnip, but when peeled, chilled, and sparked with a touch of lemon and lime juice provides a marvelous South of the Border touch to this patio meal.

Bon appetit~!
Never Fail Chicken Kabobs
And Fresh Summer Salad Ingredients:
For the kabobs:

• 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast tenders
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp. ground sage
• 1 jar Heinz 57 Sauce
• 2 cans pineapple chunks, drain and reserve the juice
• 1 cup honey
• 1 red bell pepper, cut in strips
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut in strips
• 1 green bell pepper, cut in strips
• 6 white onions, sliced in 8ths
• 24 wooden skewers, well soaked before use
• Juice of one lemon or use bottled juice

For the salad:

• 3 large ripe tomatoes
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 onion (purple is wonderful with this salad) sliced thin
• Greens of your choice, iceberg lettuce or romaine or Spring greens
• 1 jicama, peeled and sliced thin
• Fresh wedges of cold lime
• Fresh cilantro, de-stemmed and leaves chopped coarsely
• Lemon juice, lime juice and a touch of honey with cracked pepper is all the sauce you will need once you toss with the ripe avocados. The avocados will augment the dressing nicely.

Instructions:

• 1. Rinse chicken tenders with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Season with cinnamon and sage.
• 2. Prepare glaze by whisking together the Heinz 57 sauce, honey and reserved pineapple juice.
• 3. Place prepped vegetables in the lemon juice to keep their color fresh and spark their flavor on the grill.
• 4. Before adding tenders and vegetables to the skewers, be sure the skewers have absorbed the water. I usually soak them an hour or so in hot water before prepping the vegetables.
• 5. Assemble kabobs on skewers, alternating meat, red, yellow and green peppers with pineapple and onion segments.
• 6. Twirl each kabob in the glazing mixture. You might also want to have a clean glazing brush with a long handle available to glaze over the grill.
• 7. Prepare the jicama and use the lemon and lime juices to keep it from going brown. This should be done just before serving the meal.
• 8. When the kabobs are ready (chicken tenders are fully cooked), they are delicious served over fresh steamed white rice. Serve with a nice cold summer salad (recipe above or your choice). The fresh jicama is delicious in the tossed salad.

NOTE: If inclement weather interferes with your grilling plan, the kabobs can easily be prepared in the oven on a broiling pan. Set your pan on the center level and turn the kabobs every so often to evenly cook.

Never Fail Chicken Kabobs

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