Josh is out at the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival right now and so it’s just me and the dog for dinner tonight. I enjoy these rare occasions for a couple reasons: I feel less bad if I screw up a recipe, and I get a chance to try out recipes that either I know Josh doesn’t like or wouldn’t be a huge fan of. Since I’ve been wanting to make these chicken skewers for a while and Josh has seemed less than enthused, I figured I’d go with that. Besides, it’s a very simple recipe to make for one.
Making dinner for yourself is not always easy. Especially when you’re used to feeding more people. For a while, I was used to to cooking for three, then for two, and occasionally now for one, not to mention the occasions where we have company over and I’m cooking for 4-8. And generally when you’re looking at recipes, they feed 4 or more, which is great if you have a family or you really like leftovers. However, we rarely eat leftovers and somedays we end up hungrier than otheres and so it can be tricky to make just enough food. This meal worked out really well for just one, though.
I got the inspiration from an Ellie Krieger recipe for chicken and grape skewers, which I do still intend to try. She had it garnished with lemons though, which gave me an idea: why not just chop up lemons and put them on the skewers as well? I love the taste of lemon, especially with chicken, grilling lemons really brings out the sweetness in them, adding depth to a variety of dishes. And I reasoned that as the heat warmed up the lemons, circulating their juices, they would baste and moisturize the chicken wedged between them. And instead of just regular chunks of chicken, I would do meatballs. This idea I can’t claim; it was inspired by the grilled Vietnamese meatball sandwich recipe on SeriousEats. Only I would use chicken instead of pork and season it with my usual blend of spices, plus some basil, which goes fabulously with lemon. But what to go with it? I thought about whole wheat couscous, but rice seemed a better fit, and perhaps a bit of green–some steamed spinach thrown in. Perfect. The flavors were coming together in my mind–sweet basil, tart lemon, spicy ancho chile goodness, nutty rice and maybe a good sprinkling of salty parmesan. Deliciousness on all fronts. Continue reading →