After 6 straight days of damp rainy weather, I was so ready for the sun to come out this weekend, and though I had to wait until Sunday for it to happen, it was one of the best weekends we’ve had in a while. I did the grocery shopping first thing Saturday morning as usual, and then we ran to the theater to catch a 10:30 am showing of The Avengers. I’ve never seen such a packed theater for an early morning movie in my life. It was really good, definitely worth seeing if you’re at all into super hero movies (my favorites are still the Batman movies).
Shane ran his marathon yesterday morning, finishing even faster than he expected which is always a nice bonus. He’s really hopeful about qualifying to Boston when he runs his next marathon this fall, fingers crossed! Afterward we had lunch with his parents at our favorite post-race spot, Harry’s. They serve the best aoili with their sweet potato fries – I asked the waitress what was in it yesterday and am determined to recreate it at home soon π We capped off the weekend with our inaugural trip to our town’s local ice cream spot, and I sampled their newest flavor, red velvet. It’ll definitely be competing with mint chocolate chip for my favorite this summer.
Best of all, Shane took today off so we’re heading into day 3 of this weekend. I have no idea what we’re doing yet, but the sun is shining so it’s already off to a good start!
We got our weekend started with these chicken kebabs, dodging rain drops to grill them Friday night. I’ve been obsessed with kebabs lately, if you haven’t noticed. This variation is glazed with a really simple, but flavorful orange teriyaki sauce that caramelizes beautifully on the grill. I was surprised the orange flavor came through as much as it did, it gave the sauce freshness I wasn’t expecting. The kebabs are served with additional sauce on the side for dipping, practically a prerequisite in my book. Food on a stick is just plain fun; I foresee a ton of kebabs in our future this summer π
We used boneless, skinless chicken breasts to make the kebabs, but next time I’ll use chicken thighs and I’ve reflected that in the recipe below. Thighs are more forgiving on the grill so you don’t have to worry that overcooking them for even a minute will result in dry, tough meat. Though if that should happen (ahem) the dipping sauce will come to your rescue.
Orange Teriyaki Chicken Kebabs
adapted from Barbara Bakes (originally adapted from On A Stick)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon ginger, finely grated
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon honey
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 1/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
To make the sauce: Set a small saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the ginger, orange zest and garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant. (Watch carefully, you don’t want to let the garlic burn, or it’ll be bitter.) Stir in the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, orange marmalade, orange juice, honey and red pepper. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Set aside half of the sauce to serve with the cooked chicken, the other half is for brushing the kebabs.
Preheat your grill to medium-high heat (400-450 F). Oil the grates lightly (I use the tongs to hold a paper towel that’s been dipped in oil and rub it over the grates). While the grill is heating, thread the chicken cubes onto skewers (we used metal ones, but if you’re going with wood skewers, you might want to soak them in cold water beforehand).
Place the kebabs on the grill and cook, giving them a quarter turn every 2-3 minutes, until they are slightly charred on all sides. Brush one side of the kebabs liberally with the sauce then flip and cook until the sauce caramelizes, about 1 minute. Brush the other side with the sauce, flip and cook until caramelized, about 1 more minute. The total cooking time should be about 12-15 minutes, you can use an instant thermometer to verify that the chicken is cooked through. Transfer the kebabs to a platter and let rest for 5 minutes before serving with the reserved sauce.
Congrats to Shane! That’s fantastic. Good luck on him qualifying for Boston π I’ve only made chicken kabobs once before and they were SO good. I can only imagine how tasty these are!
These look delicious! (And, congrats to Shane on the marathon!).
So glad the marathon went well. I loved following along on Instagram! And these kebabs look wonderful, Tracey! I love teriyaki and I bet it is a perfect compliment to the orange!
This sound really good, I love the addition of orange, a perfect recipe for summer parties!
These look so yummy. And I agree — food on a stick is always more fun! π
I like all of your recipes. Looking forward to trying out the these on the grill.
I have to see the Avengers still. I wanted to see it this weekend but my friend who was in town visiting promised her BF she would see it with him. Boo.
We are starting to get really rainy wheather, which is kind of ad because the last few weeks have been super sunny and warm. I was getting used to it π
These kabobs look fantastoc, and I do love teriyaki anything!
I was following this on IG, congrats to Shane! What a fun thing to do π I’m seeing Avengers this Saturday..super early in the morning. That’s how I know I’m getting old — I can’t stand the teens anymore π these kebabs look so good! I love the orange teriyaki flavor that you gave these.
Shane is so happy in all his race pics–I love it! Congrats to him (and lucky him for such a supportive wife! :))
I’m always so impressed by your pictures! You should do a post about photography, it’d be so helpful, I’m sure π Anyway, the kebabs look delicious!!
Yay Shane! I can’t wait to hear how qualifying for Boston goes!
I love kebabs so so so much! I either need to figure our grill out or buy a grill pan of some sort. I want these!
The orange teriyaki sauce sounds so good! So summery π
These kabobs sound delicious – perfect for summer! Looks like we’re both cooking for runners – my boyfriend is hoping to qualify for Boston this fall too (although, realistically, probably Boston 2014). Goodluck!
Great flavor combination and I love the char on the skewers. Congrats on the marathon!
Congrats to Shane on his great finish! The kebabs look amazing.
So I have been following your blog for a while now, and never occured to me to comment duh!?!
Anyways, Those look delish. I was all ready to make them yesterday but my other half Chris told me we had no propane!! bummer! But I did have all the ingredients π i think.
I blog too, here’s mine…http://eatcravewrite.blogspot.com/
These look amazing!
These look amazing!! I think I need to invest in some of those kebab sticks so I can grill a ton this summer!
Those look incredibly yummy. Always on the lookout for protein-packed treats! Great for energy and our muscles.
This is a perfect meal for a summer barbecue.
Great recipe. Would you be happy to put up a link to it in my Food on Friday β Asian Food Series.
Your kabobs like fantastic. I’m going to try your idea to use thighs next time I grill. Thanks for the link love!
We just made these (a few minutes ago) and THEY ARE FANTASTIC!!! My husband is already texting friends to come over next Sunday to eat with us! Thank you for sharing!
I made these yesterday and they were great! Will be making theses again for sure! And sharing with my family too. Thanks a bunch!
Absolutely fantastic!!! My husband said “don’t ever ask to go out to dinner again, if we can make food this good at home, we don’t have to eat out ever again,”
If you marinade your chicken pieces in equal parts of baking soda, corn starch and vinegar for 10-20 then rinse them real good and pat dry they will not dry out on the grill. This works great for pork tenderloin as well. Sounds weird i know but i swear it works.
I can not use a grill at my apartment. What will the temp be for an oven and how long