Woohoo! It is FINALLY grilling weather here in the Northeast U.S. After what seemed like an endless winter, the month of May blossomed with above average temps, low humidity, a soothing breeze, and a break from the wetness. Everywhere you look, people are smiling and I’m feeling human again…
Time to bust out the “ole barbie.” And while you can grill just about anything, we were in the mood for our tasty Deconstructed Chicken, Sausage and Veggie Kebabs. What’s nice about these puppies is you don’t have to thread every single morsel unto a skewer. The veggies all get dumped into a heated grill basket and only the meat pieces are speared. (Since the sausage cooks quicker than the chicken, they need to be on separate spikes.) Portioning the ingredients this way allows diners to eat as little or as much meat and vegetables as they prefer.
Speaking of the meat, if you’re not a dark meat fan (white meat is usually my preference), go ahead and use chicken breasts instead. And while we opted for some Iberico Buttifara Spanish sausage, go wild and crazy with whatever brand your little heart desires—just make sure to choose fat links.
And BTW, we prefer the flat metal skewers as opposed to the round wooden ones. Reasons being, you don’t have to soak them so they won’t catch fire, and because they’re flat the morsels stays in place; plus they are reusable—waste not, want not. An added grain such as couscous, rice, orzo or quinoa rounds out the meal.
NOTE: The spelling kabob is mostly used by North Americans as they try to transliterate the sound for the dish, kebab, that is made with grilled meat in Arab countries.
Deconstructed Chicken, Sausage and Veggie Kebabs
Ingredients
- 1¼ lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1½” pieces
- 12 oz. (3) fat sausage links, cut into 18, 1″ pieces
- 1 red pepper, cut into cubes
- 1 yellow pepper, cut into cubes
- 1 onion, cut into wedges
- 12 mushroom caps
- 1 zucchini, ½” slices
- 8-10 whole, peeled garlic cloves, lightly smashed, large cloves cut in half
Balsamic Marinade: (makes 1¼ cups)
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup canola oil
- 2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp. honey
- 1½ tsp. dried, crushed rosemary
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
Directions
- To a small bowl add balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, crushed rosemary, salt, and pepper. Whisk together and slowly add in the canola oil whisking the entire time.
- In 2 quart-size ziplocs, add chicken to one bag and sausage pieces to the other with and ¼ cup of the balsamic mixture to each bag.
- Add the cut veggies to a jumbo ziploc with a ½ cup of the marinade and reserve the remaining ¼ cup mixture. Seal and shake to make sure all the veggies are coated.
- Place all 3 bags in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours to marinate.
- Preheat grill to high heat (600-700 degrees F). Place the oiled veggie basket onto the grill to heat up for at 10 minutes.
- Remove the ziplocs from the refrigerator and start to assemble the meat onto skewers. Keep the chicken and sausage on separate skewers.
- Pour the veggies into the hot basket and turn them with a spatula every couple of minutes until crisp-tender, about 15 minutes total.
- Lower the heat to medium hot (about 400 degrees). Oil the grates and place kebabs on the grill.
- Turn each skewer a few times to char on all sides. The sausage will be done in about 4-5 minutes, so place those on top of the basket to keep warm while the chicken cooks another 3-4 minutes.
- Brush the remaining marinade on the chicken for one last flavor burst. Grill for 30 seconds more.
- Remove from grill. Place the veggies in a serving bowl and slide the meat off of the skewers onto a platter or individual plates.
- Serve over couscous, rice, or orzo.
Accounting for Taste 
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