Stick Dinner

What could be easier than a brochette dinner?

With so much produce at its peak, finding vegetables that will grill quickly with chicken is a breeze. These skewers are very forgiving; if the zucchini doesn’t look good when you’re shopping, use any summer squash that does. The same applies to the onions and mushrooms.

Serve the brochettes with steamed basmati rice. And if you want to keep the skewer theme going for dessert, spear a few strawberries and serve over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chicken and Vegetable Skewers

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Juice of 1 large lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon herbs de Provence

Coarse salt

Freshly ground pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 to 3 zucchini

1 sweet onion

8 small mushrooms

* Whisk together lemon juice, oil, mustard, herbs de Provence and salt and pepper to taste in small bowl. Slice each chicken breast into 1-inch cubes. Toss chicken in marinade.

* Cut zucchini into 1-inch-thick rounds. Quarter onion and separate pieces.

* Divide chicken and vegetables among 8 skewers, alternating chicken, zucchini and mushrooms. Use 2 mushrooms per skewer, threading from stem through to top to prevent mushroom from breaking in half.

* Grill chicken-vegetable skewers over medium-high heat, basting with remaining marinade, turning often until chicken is cooked and vegetables are tender and beginning to char, about 10 minutes.

4 servings. Each serving: 268 calories; 282 mg sodium; 99 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 43 grams protein; 1.31 grams fiber.

Menu

Chicken and Vegetable Skewers

Steamed Basmati Rice

Strawberry Spears Over Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients

Shopping List

Herbs de Provence

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 to 3 zucchini,

8 small mushrooms

1 sweet onion

Strawberries

Vanilla Ice Cream

Staples

Lemon

Dijon mustard

Olive oil

Basmati rice

Game Plan

30 minutes before: Heat grill. Prepare rice.

25 minutes before: Prepare marinade and add chicken.

20 minutes before: Clean and cut up vegetables. Thread on skewers with chicken.

10 minutes before: Grill chicken-vegetable skewers.

Just before serving: Mound rice on plates and place a chicken-vegetable skewer on each.