GREEK CHICKEN AND HALLOUMI SKEWERS

Since barbecue time is once again upon us, this week, I’ll share something that you can use for the final barbecue of the season.

Skewers are perfect barbecue food. It’s an easy way to get a good combo of protein and veggies, but without the hassle of a fork and knife meal.

These are made with protein of your choice (chicken here, but shrimp or salmon work well), and salty halloumi cheese. If you’ve never had halloumi, it’s also known as grilling cheese. It’s great because you can heat it, and it gets that browned cheesy goodness, but it holds its shape, making it perfect for kabobs. I added the rest of my farmer’s market cherry tomatoes, which are also a great addition to skewers, since the heat enhances the flavor and they char up nicely.

What brings this all together, however, is the marinade. It’s a Mediterranean inspired marinade, made with extra-virgin avocado oil, some Greek yogurt, lemon, and fresh herbs. While olive oil is usually first choice in Greek recipes, I urge you to try your avocado oil here. It has a distinct flavor that really compliments the mint. Like I usually do for recipes like this, I drizzled a tiny bit of the oil on the cooked skewers just to give it that floral aroma that gets lost with the heat.

If you have leftover marinade, I think it would be good on corn on the cob, eggplant, or zucchini, but feel free to experiment, and let me know your results.

GREEK CHICKEN AND HALLOUMI SKEWERS

John Cawrse
Servings

4

Ingredients

    Marinade:

    • 1/2 cup Ava Jane’s Kitchen Avocado Oil 
    • 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
    • 1 clove garlic
    • Juice and zest of 1 lemon
    • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
    • 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
    • 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
    • 1/2 teaspoon Aztec Sea Salt

    Skewers:

    • 1 pound chicken breast (or protein of choice) cut into bite sized pieces
    • 8 ounces halloumi cheese, cut into bite sized pieces
    • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
    • Extra avocado oil and fresh ground black pepper, for serving

    Directions

    1. Make the marinade by combining all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
    2. Thread the chicken, halloumi, and tomatoes on wooden or metal skewers and transfer to a shallow baking dish. Pour the marinade over the skewers and turn to coat. Marinate in the fridge for an hour or more.
    3. When ready to cook, preheat grill to medium high heat. Grill the skewers until the chicken is cooked through, the cheese is browned, and the tomatoes are charred and soft. Drizzle with additional oil if desired and sprinkle with the fresh ground pepper.
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