The evening we made this, we spent an hour at the gym and then walked the Cape Henlopen State Park trail. The MOST exercise. After that much physical exertion, you want something both healthy and easy to make. You never wanna chow down on something loaded with cream sauce and butter after a workout, nor spend an hour in the kitchen.
This isn't to say this is turning into a healthy cooking blog. No way, no how. This is just really good food that happens to be good for you. I'll leave Cooking Light to local favorite (and my roommate) Erin Williams. ;)
The Meal: Honey-Orange Kebabs with Quinoa Salad
I don't remember kebabs being part of our food repertoire when I was a kid. We always grilled, which I love, but no kebabs. I think I had them for the first time courtesy of Cheryl Dodd. Her glaze recipe is to DIE for, and I wish I had thought to get it for this blog. Alas, we created our own!
The Ingredients: 1/2 pound shrimp
1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
2 green bell peppers
1/2 red onion
8 oz. package whole mushrooms
1 carton cherry tomatoes
Glaze:
1 large tsp. honey
Juice of 1 orange
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. ground ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Quinoa Salad:
2 cups water or stock
1 cup quinoa
4 leaves fresh basil, finely chopped
1/4 red onion, diced
1/2 sweet red pepper, diced
1/4 cup raisins
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. cumin
Splash lemon juice
Drizzle of walnut oil
3 tbsp. cider vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
An Important Note: We recommend doubling the recipe for the glaze. We didn't have time to marinate everything, so we just cooked the kebabs with the marinade. Except for the shrimp, marinate for about 30 minutes to an hour. The shrimp breaks down if left in liquid for too long.
So, the glaze - just combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. How easy is that? Oh, Ina...
As for the kebabs, if you're using wooden skewers, you need to soak them in water first for at least ten minutes. Otherwise, they catch on fire on the grill and ruin your wonderful meal. (You can also broil or bake these, but I prefer the taste of grilled food.)
We bought fresh shrimp at the grocery store, and they came with everything but the heads. They were GORGEOUS:
So, just a little tutorial on how to shell and clean a shrimp. First, remove all of the legs.
This makes it really easy to remove the shell. Make sure you get all of the little pieces. You don't want to chomp down on shell in the middle of dinner. No bueno.
To remove the tail, grasp the shrimp in one hand near the tail and pull the tail straight out with the other hand until it separates. If you pull it at an angle, you'll break the shrimp.
Finally, you need to remove the digestive tract. Mmmm, shrimp poop. If you look closely, this is the little black line that runs down the center of the "belly" of the shrimp. Run a paring knife down the center. It's almost like you're starting to butterfly the shrimp, but don't cut that deep. As you run the knife down the center, the digestive tract should just come along for the ride. If not, pull it up with the tip of the knife once you've made the cut.
Of course, you can avoid all of this prep work and purchase cleaned and/or frozen shrimp. I enjoy the prep work.
Cut the chicken (which should be about one large breast) into small 1/2 cubes. They need to be smaller so they finish cooking at the same time as everything else. If they're too big, you'll end up with raw chicken and overcooked shrimp. Again, no bueno.
As for the rest of the kebabs, cut the onion into large chunks, keeping the layers together. Cut the green peppers into large pieces, probably about 1 square inch. Clean the mushrooms and tomatoes.
Set up a little station for yourself so you can go into kebab making mode and churn them out all at once.
In any combination you like, skewer the chicken, shrimp and vegetables. I try to put an even amount of everything on each skewer so that no one feels shafted. This should make 10 kebabs.
Since we didn't marinate everything, we just laid foil down on the grill to cook the kebabs in the glaze and keep all that flavor in.
Cooking time will depend on the size of flame you're working with. Your vegetables should begin to char slightly, shrimp should be pink and the chicken should be cooked all the way through.
As for the quinoa, bring the water or stock to a boil in a saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, until the quinoa is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.
While the quinoa is still warm, add the remaining ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper, tossing until everything is incorporated.
You can leave this out while the kebabs cook and serve warm or room temperature, or chill it in the refrigerator and serve cold. It's really good either way.
Serve everything up in heaping portions, especially if you've been to the gym. This meal is full of vegetables and protein. Quinoa is a "super-grain," so you're getting protein in the side dish as well. This is a great meal to refuel with.
And, as a special treat, we dined al fresco. Jealous? You should be.
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