Week 23: Twenty minutes or less - Honey Chicken Skewers with Corn Salsa

I was a bit ambitious here.  I wanted to make our whole dinner in 20 minutes or less and I ended up doing it in about 28 minutes.  I am still calling this challenge complete because each dish was done in under 20 minutes, and I feel pretty proud of myself for having all of dinner done in 28 minutes.  The kitchen was a minor disaster (I usually try and clean up after myself as I go, but there was no time dammit!) but it cleaned up pretty quick. I followed a Real Simple recipe for the chicken and used their corn salsa idea, but made it with canned corn rather than grilled and I spiced it up a bit as you'll see.

The glaze was an easy quick ketchup, Worcestershire, and honey. This step took all of 2 minutes max.


I used three chicken breasts because that is what I had thawed and ready to roll.




After cutting each breast into strips I skewered each on soaked bamboo skewers and got them on the grill in a hurry. This step took me about 8 minutes. The recipe called for basting them as they grilled, but I needed to whip up the corn salsa so I ran inside to do that while the chicken started cooking.




The corn salsa I made had corn, black beans, a crap-ton (yes, that is my official measurement) of cilantro, lime juice (about 1Tbspn), and a tiny bit of salt. This step took me about 4 minutes - but it overlapped with grilling time so it didn't add to my over all time.




With the salsa made, I ran outside to baste the chicken. I basted and turned, then let that cook.  Then I basted and turned again. The chicken was on the grill for about 12 minutes.  If I'd had the forthought to bring the chicken to room temp ahead of time, it would have grilled faster, but it was cold right out of the fridge thus the longer cook time.




I brought the chicken inside and started on the salad.  I cut mushrooms and strawberries and added them to some lettuce.  I mixed up a balsamic vinaigrette and sprinkled some sunflower seeds on top and we were in business!




Twenty-eight minutes till it was all plated and on the table ready for eating.  It was delicious.  Every. Darn. Bit of it.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone