Sweet & Spicy Pineapple Chicken Kabobs

 

Sweet and spicy flavor combinations are perfect for Summer grilling. Although, grilling is a year around sport at our house.  We often stand outside in the dead of winter to grill steaks, fajitas, chicken, pizza, ribs, you name it, we love our grill!   For these sweet and spicy kabobs, you'll thread chunks of fresh pineapple, crunchy vegetables and tender marinated chicken chunks onto skewers.  Brush on an easy spicy pineapple glaze and you've got a winning flavor combination that my family loves and I hope yours will, too.

I like to serve these kabobs with a simple rice pilaf, and a steamed veggie or salad to round out our meal.  In keeping with the pineapple theme, for dessert we'll enjoy grilled pineapple kabobs and cookie bowls filled with macadamia nuts and white chocolate. A couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream and topped off with a glorious drizzle of caramel....  Delish, it's a taste of the island life any time of year!

For the marinade you'll need:

1 [6 oz] can pineapple juice

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup minced red onion/shallots
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp minced ginger

salt & black pepper to taste

To prepare the marinade:

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together.  Pour into a large plastic storage bag.   Add the chicken and place into the fridge to marinate for at least 3 hours, overnight is ideal.

For the kabobs you"ll need:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch chunks [approx. 1 1/2-2 lbs]

1 green pepper cut into 1 inch pieces

1 red onion cut into quarters

1 1/2 cups of fresh pineapple cut into 1/2-3/4 inch chunks

6 bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water

 

 

To prepare the kabobs:

When you're ready to prepare the kabobs, remove the chicken from the marinade.  Alternate the peppers, chicken, pineapple and onion chunks onto the skewers.  Season everything lightly with salt and pepper.  Oil the grill grates and heat the grill to medium-high heat.  Cook the kabobs rotating as needed so they will cook evenly.  About 4 minutes on all sides.  You want the kabobs to char, but, not burn.   A few minutes before removing from the grill,  reduce the heat to medium and begin to baste the kabobs with the glaze until they are lightly charred  It will take the kabobs around 16-18 minutes {maybe less} in total cooking time depending on the size of the chicken pieces.  Serve hot over rice pilaf.  Yield: 6 kabobs

 

For the spicy pineapple glaze you'll need:

1 [10 oz] jar red pepper jelly

1/2 cup pineapple juice

Warm the glaze slightly in the microwave just until the jelly has melted so it will be easier to brush onto the kabobs.  Using a pastry brush baste the kabobs with the glaze at the end of grilling. 

Cook's note: 
When cutting the chicken into chunks, make a special effort to cut the pieces into similar sizes so it will cook evenly.