Chicken kabobs and couscous-a 20 minute meal

If you are looking for a quick meal that is deeelux, I'm pretty sure this is it.

I got the idea to make chicken kabobs the other day when I was reading Real Simple magazine (my favorite) and saw a picture of them in there and squeeled "Chicken kabobs!!! Yes!" Because I was in a food slump and wanted something new to make.

I didn't follow the recipe from Real Simple because it called for cumin and I have recently decided that cumin tastes like barf. However, one look and I was hooked on making this meal and when I get hooked on a food idea there is just no stopping me. I just know that I am going to be pure joy and sunshine when I am pregnant someday. I can only imagine the horror those food cravings will inflict.

Ahem. Back to the meal and passing over my being knocked up in the future, the kabobs were amazing for 4 reasons: 1. they took 20 minutes from prep to out of the oven (25 if you're slow), 2. the meal cost me approximately $8 for all the ingredients, 3. it was out of the norm (see food slump comment above), and 4. it turned out stinking delicious (oxymoron??). The chicken was juicy and tender and the veggies were full of flavor and perfectly cooked--soft but not mushy with a hint of crispiness.

 

I seasoned my chicken with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, but I think it would be really good with lemon pepper too. Just thinking out loud here.

Enjoy.

Chicken Kabobs and Couscous

Ingredients

• One chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 medium sized zucchini
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 bamboo cooking skewers
• 1 box couscous, prepared according to box directions (I used Far East's Roasted Pine Nut Couscous--I highly recommend it. Making couscous yourself is impractical.)

Directions

1. Take a chicken breast and cut it into 1 inch cubes. Sprinkle the cubes with all the seasonings except salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Slice the veggies into 1/2 inch slices.
3. Assemble the skewers in any order you'd like. I chose the 'zucchini, green pepper, chicken, zucchini, red pepper' pattern.
4. Lay out the skewers on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Broil for 5 minutes then flip the skewers over and broil for an additional 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (I ended up cooking mine for 15 minutes, flipping them three times. However, my oven is ancient and my broil does not get very hot.) While the chicken is cooking, make the couscous.