My husband left for his thrilling hiking trip around Mont Blanc so Sunday lunch here was simple but flavorful! A fabulous Thai inspired recipe of Chicken skewers and Japanese eggplant. I promise you are not going to see any more eggplant recipes here for a while so take a moment to appreciate this.
Lemongrass is one of my favorite ingredients to pair with chicken. It smells heavenly and adds a bright fresh flavor to the dish. Fresh lemongrass can be easily found in Asian grocery stores and Canadian supermarkets. It is usually located with the other fresh produce and is often sold in bundles of 2 or 3 stalks. If you can’t find fresh lemongrass, no big deal, you can substitute for frozen in its place. I always buy fresh and freeze the leftover stalks. It keeps for months and is readily available when I need it. It is a great product to have on hand.
The chicken breast is cut into thin strips, marinated for half an hour in a flavor rich marinade composed of lemongrass, lime juice, garlic, Thai chili peppers, and cilantro. All the flavors work brilliantly together and give you a pretty spicy marinade. When marinating with a lot of acid, you can’t let your meat sit in the marinade very long. So 30 minutes is just perfect to infuse the chicken with fresh, lemony flavor. The chicken is threaded onto wooden bamboo skewers and grilled on a stove top grill. It only requires about 15 minutes to cook and the dinner is ready to serve. So easy and delicious.
These skewers would be great as an appetizer as well although we had it for our main course. When I am grilling meat I always have a grilled or roasted veggie on the side. This is part of our grilled meal concept. As my garden is producing an insane amount of eggplants I wanted to use them in a creative way so my daughter doesn’t get sick of eating it. I pan roasted Japanese eggplants and drizzled lemon grass marinade on top.
This past week my tomato plants developed some powdery mildew on them and I had to remove all the affected leaves. This gave enough room to my Malabar spinach to breathe and bask in the sun. It gained its growth back and I had fresh Malabar spinach leaves to serve in lunch. I find so much joy in making simple meals with freshly picked vegetables from my garden.
Before we go to the recipe, I’d just like to remind you that you can follow me by subscribing to my blog via email so that all my new blog posts go directly to your inbox. Also, you can catch me on Google+, Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you guys, enjoy!
Chicken Skewers and pan roasted Japanese eggplant with spicy lemongrass marinade. Simple, flavorful and perfect for a quick midweek meal.
Ingredients
- 2 (500g) chicken breast
- 6 Japanese eggplant
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 2 stalk lemon grass, white part only, peeled and chopped finely (about 1/3 cup)
- 8 Thai chilies, chopped with seeds (1 1/2 tbsp.)
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp. garlic clove, smashed
- Salt to taste
- Vegetable oil for basting
- 10-12 wooden bamboo skewers
Instructions
- In a small dish, combine the marinade ingredients and whisk to combine thoroughly. Set aside.
- Use a meat pounder or rolling pin to flatten any thick parts of the chicken so the meat is close to the same thickness.
- Cut the chicken into 2-inch strips, add them to a shallow dish and pour 1/2 cup of marinade over them, turning to coat both sides with the marinade. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate minimum for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- Soak the wooden skewers in warm water for 30 minutes to keep them from burning during the grilling process.
- When ready to cook, lift a chicken strip out of the marinade, allowing the marinade to drip off, thread the meat onto the wooden skewer, Place the completed skewer on a separate plate. Repeat with each wooden skewer dividing the chicken evenly between the skewers.
- Heat a grill pan on medium heat. Baste the chicken lightly with olive oil and place the skewers on the grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until lightly charred and lift off the grill easily. Turn the skewers and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes or until the chicken is again lightly charred and opaque throughout.
- While the chicken skewers are cooking, prepare the eggplants and preheat a pan or grill pan.
- Trim the ends and slice in half the long way.
- Use the tip of the knife to cut slashes in the flesh of each eggplant, cutting almost to the skin but not through it. Brush lightly with oil. Sprinkle salt.
- When hot, place the eggplants on the grill, cut side down.
- Cook for about 3 minutes, until the eggplant is marked and softened on that side. Flip the eggplant pieces cut side up, using a brush or spoon spread a thin layer of lemongrass marinade. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the eggplant is fork tender. Serve hot with lemon grass chicken skewers.
This recipe is linked to CookBlogShare.
Dolly
Lovely recipe! Thank you for sharing, dear Bal!
David @ Spiced
Wow, those eggplants! Your garden has done so well this year, Balvinder! 🙂 And what a great way to use some of that garden produce, too. I don’t think I’ve cooked with lemongrass very much, so I’ll have to experiment a bit with it. And like you, I’m not quite ready to let go of summer yet. I’m excited for the cooler Fall temperatures, but I still need some more tasty grilled recipes before the winter snows arrive. Thanks for sharing this one…it sounds delicious!!
Cat
I love chicken skewers and these look so tasty. Your eggplants look so cute too! x
Angie@Angie's Recipes
wow A Thai breakfast! I love those eggplants from your garden…so pretty!
Renee @ Mummy Tries
Gosh this sounds incredible! Lovely that you’ve got them growing in abundance too 🙂 #CookBlogShare
Corina Blum
I love lemongrass but don’t use it enough! These chicken skewers sound delicious and definitely something I’d love to try.
Alida @My Little Italian Kitchen
What a fabulous combination of flavours. I don’t have lemongrass very often but I love the flavour and its smell. I need to use it more often in my cooking. Lovely chicken dish!
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie
Wow. This looks SO GOOD!! I love the flavour of lemongrass and it goes so well with chicken and those aubergines (sorry I’m just too British to call them eggplants!!) look so beautiful in your garden…and must go so well with the marinade. I love them pan roasted like that too. Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare 🙂 Eb x
marcie
I love lemongrass and don’t use it enough. Thank you for the inspiration!
Monica
I love eating dishes made with lemongrass but I’ve never cooked with it at home. I would enjoy trying. Your chicken and those eggplants look delicious. And your garden is amazing!
Emma - Bake Then Eat
Wow Balvinder your garden produce is amazing, theses eggplants are simply beautiful. I must admit I am a little bit (a lot) jealous 😀 wish I has such success. Another lovely recipe!
Adina
No problem with eggplant recipes, I love them all. I seem to be cooking more eggplants when my husband is away too… 🙂 He doesn’t appreciate them much to say it politely. I had eggplants parmigiana today for dinner, just for me, the kids and husband had soup…
gloria baker
really beautiful ! I love eggplants !
natalia20041989
Oh yum, that looks so good!☺