Chicken and Veggies

Marinated veggies is my new passion. It all started with the veggie kabobs I made one afternoon for a family cook out. They were AWFUL! Very bland, a little burned ... ugh. Once I've failed at something, I usually try again. And again, and again, until I get it right. After a few attempts, I think I've finally gotten it right and I thought I'd share the recipe. The secret to these yummy vegetables is the marinating - get them marinating early in the morning and by afternoon you'll have some mighty fine eats. Okay, so here it is, in typical haphazard fashion:

Chop your favorite veggies into fairly large chunks. My favorites: whole mushrooms, yellow squash, onions, green peppers, and broccoli. I know, the broccoli is unusual for a kabob, but it's my favorite veggie so I include it in just about everything. I've tried tomatoes, which I really liked, but I don't include those anymore because it irritates me to hear the C-man whine about them. I've also tried carrots, but they were hard to skewer and didn't cook very well - too crunchy. I would like to try zucchini, but for now I'm sticking with stuff in our garden. The freshness of garden veggies really makes a difference! If you don't have a garden, try a local farmers' market - definitely worth the trip. Anyway, take all these chunked up veggies and put them in a large ZipLoc bag. If you have any meat you want to include, throw that in, too. Drizzle in a bit of olive oil - don't go crazy - and some of your favorite vinegar. I almost always use balsamic for this - the sweetness of the balsamic vinegar goes really well with the veggies. Then dump in whatever your favorite spices are - just watch the salt content if you're going for a healthy meal. I add fresh pressed garlic (if you don't have a garlic press, consider getting one - they're so convenient!), a bunch of pepper, a dash of Tony's, and usually a little bit of cumin. Seal the baggie, mix it all up really well, and leave in the fridge all day. Turn the baggie several times over the course of the day. When it comes to cooking, you can skewer them and cook them on the grill (soak wooden kabobs in water so they don't burn) or throw them in the oven and bake them at 350 until the meat is done. I dumped the whole bag into a Pyrex baking dish with some chicken and the whole mess cooked within the marinade for about an hour - talk about yummy and delicious! I made a huge batch and I'm still eating the leftovers!

If you make it, hope you enjoy it. If you don't want to make it, just wrangle an invitation to my house - you know I'll serve it!!