I may have mentioned before that I have a slight addiction to cookbooks and cooking magazines. I’ll read my cookbooks cover to cover like a novel and love ripping recipe ideas out of the magazines. Most of them end up in a folder for me to pour over when I plan meals for the week, but every now and again there comes a recipe I know I need to try RIGHT NOW. That’s what happened when I saw this recipe in the June edition of Cooking Light magazine. I ripped it out and put it on that week’s menu. And let me tell you it’s a keeper.
I made a few small changes. Used more garlic – because well you can never have too much garlic; use chicken breast instead of chicken thighs because we had them on hand, and used more lemon zest to make the lemon pop a little more.
Herby, juicy chicken skewers topped with a balsamic-blueberry salsa. It was a light, fresh, dinner – and a new way to use chicken!
Here’s what you need:
The first thing you need to do is make the herby marinade for the chicken. It’s made up of lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley, cilantro, basil, garlic along with [not pictured] salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Start by chopping the garlic in the food processor. Then add the remaining ingredients and pulse until combined.
Cut the chicken into about one inch chunks and mix with the herby mixture. Allow to marinade in the fridge for about an hour.
While the chicken marinades, make the blueberry salsa (this can be made the day before as well). Combine some blueberries, balsamic vinegar, and honey in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently and don’t be afraid to break up the blueberries.
Pour the blueberry mixture into a bowl.
Wipe out the bowl of the food processor, and pulse the remaining blueberries. You want them to be roughly chopped.
Now add the chopped blueberries, finely chopped red onion, and some minced jalapeno to the blueberry mixture, and you’ve got blueberry salsa.
Thread the chicken onto skewers. Make sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes if you use wooden skewers or they’ll just burn up on the grill.
Grill the chicken skewers over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes. More or less depending on how hot your grill is and how big the chicken ended up.
Top with the blueberry salsa.
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ c fresh flat leaf parsley
- ¼ c fresh basil
- ¼ c fresh cilantro
- 2 T olive oil
- Zest of one lemon
- 1 T fresh lemon juice
- ¼ t fresh ground black pepper
- Salt
- 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into one inch pieces
- 1 c blueberries, divided
- 2 T balsamic vinegar
- 1 t honey
- 2 T red onion, finely chopped
- 1 t jalapeno, minced
- 4 - Wooden skewers soaked in water for at least 30 minutes
- In a food processor, chop the garlic. Add the parsley, basil, cilantro, oil, lemon zest and juice, pepper and a pinch of salt. Pulse until everything is chopped.
- Mix the herb mixture with the chicken and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- In a small saucepan, bring ½ c of the blueberrys, balsamic vinegar, and honey to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened. About 10 minutes. Break up the blueberries with the spoon as you stir. Pour into a small bowl.
- Wipe out the food processor from the herb mixture. Add the remaining blueberries and pulse until roughly chopped. About 7-8 pulses. Add the blueberries, salt, onion, and jalapeno to the blueberry-balsamic mixture. Stir to combine.
- Preheat the grill to about medium-high heat.
- Thread the chicken onto skewers. Grill for about 8 minutes, turning once.
- Serve with blueberry salsa.
The blueberries are just starting to ripen up here in Ely. We’ll have to get out to our secret patch and start filling the freezer! The blueberry salsa looks cool and delicious. Can’t wait to try it. Mom