Chili Chicken Mango Kebabs

Chili Chicken Mango Kebabs

So, it was brought to my attention that everything on my blog so far has been vegetarian. Which is great for those of you who are vegetarian!  However, I, most definitely, am NOT a vegetarian.  So I wanted to remedy the meatless nature of my blog up until now.  These kebabs, quite honestly, might be the perfect summer meal.  They are citrusy, spicy, use fruit that is in season, and of course, you grill them!  

The marinade is deceptively simple with definite flavor imparted on the meat and mango after just a couple of hours.  The original recipe is actually from Williams-Sonoma and was suggested to me by my friend Liz.  I tweaked the marinade and added some grape tomatoes into the mix!  I love the way grape tomatoes get once they have been grilled. They are so sweet and juicy and literally almost bursting with flavor.  I happened to run out of mango slices for the last few kebobs and so popped a few chunks of green bell pepper onto the skewers and they tasted just delicious!  

Ingredients

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Zest of 1 lime

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into large cubes

3 large mangoes cut into large cubes

About 15 grape tomatoes

10-12 wooden skewers depending on how full you like your kebabs

Put the olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, chili powder, sugar and salt in a shallow baking dish and stir until well combined.  After dicing chicken breast and mango, place into the baking dish with the marinade.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinate in the refrigerator from anywhere between one and a half hours to four hours.  You can't marinate for much longer than that because the citrus acid in the lime juice actually starts to cook the chicken.  

Toward the end of the marinating process, you probably want to soak the skewers fully in water for ten to fifteen minutes.  By water-logging the skewers you prevent them from burning on the grill.  Once the chicken and mango have marinated, string onto the skewers by alternating pieces of chicken, mango, and whole grape tomatoes in any order you like.  I happened to go tomato-chicken-mango-chicken, but feel free to mix it up however you want!

Heat the grill to medium-high heat and place the skewers on the grates.  Grill over indirect heat, turning once, for 6-8 minutes on each side depending on how big your chicken pieces are.  Remove from the grill. Enjoy!