Some of the best flavors I have ever put together in the kitchen usually are when I’m on the run. Whether I’m running late for something or I’m running out of time to make dinner. Regardless if I’m in a hurry for some reason things just tend to end up really nicely. Most of the time that is. I think it might be because I think about it too much when I’m trying to create a recipe. Sometimes I force myself to sort of just make things taste delicious. But if I just go with the flow and stay unafraid of any flavors, its usually pretty successful.
Although some people tend to get a little edgy when your trying flavors that may be a little extravagant for them. We can call them “the faint hearted”. But I feel like its more like something I would call “culinary handicapped” meaning they just don’t like trying new flavors or trying weird ones. To me this is a hindrance on the full enjoyment of life and if people were a little more adventurous they would end up being a lot happier as a person. But, as long as you wield your kitchen shears of terror and rule the kitchen with an iron fist people will generally back down and let you do your thing. Also in case you didn’t notice a difference, which I’m fairly confident you did. I am using my brand new camera that I just recently for the first time in the post. Its my very first DSLR camera and so far I am loving it. This camera is so powerful and so much fun I would have never guessed how great it is to have a DSLR.
Also for those of you wondering what kind of camera it is, it’s a Canon EOS Rebel T3 DSLR. One thing I noticed that was really funny though, was right when I got it, the first few days I only took like maybe 5-10 pictures with it total and barely payed attention to them, most of the time I would kind of just go sit down and stare at it for a while and then go do something else. I was so starry eyed bye it that I didn’t want to use it to much. Now that you know that you probably know that it was really hard for me to take photos after cooking. I had to wash my hands about a dozen times before I touched the camera because I didn’t want a single molecule of those beautiful yet strong smelling spices within a 100 foot distance of my brand new toy. You know what actually I don’t like calling it a toy, because it just seems derogatory to call it a toy. Its a, she. Yes it is now a she. In fact I’m naming her. I shall call her Léone.
Aside from me raving about my camera. These chicken skewers are absolutely delicious, and I seriously recommend you use fresh coriander (aka cilantro) because it really makes a huge difference in flavor.
- 1½ lbs chicken breast cubed
- ¼ cup full fat yogurt (could use up to a whole cup depending on how much marinade you want but ¼ cup was the perfect amount for me. It thorougly coated it without drowning the meat in it)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice (about ¼ lemon squeezed)
- 1 Tablespoon walnut oil
- 1 handful of fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) torn into small bits
- 1½ teaspoons garam masala
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 garlic cloves Minced finely
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 medium eggplant sliced ½ inch thick
- 4-8 ounces of brown mushrooms (italian or baby bellas work well) leave whole
- Soak wooden skewers in room temperature water for about 10 minutes or while marinating.
- Combine chicken, yogurt, oil, garam masala, mustard powder, turmeric, paprika, cayenne, garlic, salt and pepper in a medium sized bowl and mix until chicken is well coated and covered.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge to marinate for at least an hour. (You can either choose to completely skip letting them marinate for an hour and just toss them in the mixture and throw them right on the grill or marinate them up to 24 hours)
- Preheat grill over medium high heat
- Once finished marinating pull chicken out of fridge and mix again to reincorporate all of the marinated meat.
- Begin adding chicken and vegetables in a pattern. I started mine with chicken followed by two slices of eggplant then chicken then 1 mushroom then chicken then two slices of eggplant again and then chicken once more. You can fill your skewers up as much as you like and in any pattern you wish. Sprinkle with torn coriander.
- Carefully slightly grease grill with a paper towel soaked in oil and then add skewers to the grill. Once a good sear has been reached lower the temperature to medium heat and close the lid. Cook approximately 3-5 minutes each side.
- Garnish with fresh coriander, Serve and enjoy!
This is right up my alley!! I’ll definitely be trying this. Love Indian grilled meats, and eggplant, too!
Great to know. Let me know if you try it and how it goes.
hi, I came across your site tonight via Stacy at Paleo Parents and wow you have some amazing looking food that I am pinning for future meals. I am currently doing the 21 days detox and I was wondering would this have any sugar content? I only ask because I saw the chicken and brie and didn’t think there was any sugar until i read the comments so i am guessing the sugar is in the mustard? Many thanks.
Hi Clo, thanks for the kind words. This recipe is actually the only recipe that has any measurable amount of sugar in it really and its natural occurring sugar from the yogurt but its still very minuscule. In these skewers the chicken is marinated in 1/4 cup of yogurt which typically contains about 1.5 grams of naturally occurring sugar due to the 1/4 cup of yogurt (but its from the milk, your yogurt should not have added sugar in it, I highly recommend white mountain Bulgarian yogurt as it is not pasteurized therefore has the probiotics making it slightly lower in natural occurring sugars due to the probioitcs eating some of it up). But you do have to remember that it is being divided up by the amount of cubed chicken that its being marinated in. So you would divide that up by the amount of cubed chicken you are marinating it in.
And as for the chicken with brie I think she may have made a slight mistake on the sugar or I’m not seeing it because there isn’t anything that has sugar in it on the chicken with the brie. The only thing i can think of is that sometimes dijon mustard can have added sugar but its not supposed to. you just have to find a decent Dijon mustard that has no sugar added and its sugar free. (Which is how dijon mustard is supposed to be, don’t really know why companies out there have to add sugar to their mustard but some do) so really you just have to find the right brand of dijon. But with all that said I can tell you now that I do not and have not been eating any or cooked with any sugar (such as refined sugars, cane sugar, raw sugar, even coconut sugar) for over a year and all of my recipes reflect the way I eat.
So in other words all of my recipes currently on my blog and in the future do not and will not ever have added sugar EVER in them unless specified. Which so far none of them do nor do I think they ever will. And all of my recipes so far in correlation with sugar may have some naturally occurring sugars like this one from the yogurt but like I said its very very low in it anyway. I hope this helps Clo. Let me know if you have anymore questions as I promise that all the recipes so far on my blog are incredibly low in sugar because that’s how I eat too :)! Also let me know if you try any of these and like them.
Hi Joshua,
Just found your blog via Abel James’ blog. Your recipes look great and the food photography is superb. I’m looking forward to seeing new recipes in the future and will definitively give most of them a try. I’m making these chicken skewers tomorrow for dinner and will let you know the results (although I will brine my chicken first). Would love to see more paleo blogs with gourmet pressure cooker recipes, I use my electric pressure cooker about 2x/wk and am always looking for creative new ideas—just a thought. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
Thanks Linda for the heads up on wanting some pressure cooker recipes, I’ll definitely look into that. I need to get a new pressure cooker and I’ll start powering away at pressure cooker recipes.
Fantastic recipe, Joshua! I followed the recipe as written with the addition of brining the chicken breasts overnight prior to marinating for 5 hours. I’m so glad I made a double batch to have for leftovers on my salads. Have added this recipe to my permanent meal planning menu. Thanks again!
Btw, you forgot to add the lemon juice to the instructions listed on #2 🙂
I am loving all your recipes!! Thanks so much for sharing..sharing you, your journey, your recipes. Keep it up!
Isnt yoghurt dairy? I thought paleo was dairy free.
Hi Joshua,
Loved your story and so happy for your outcome. I am sure that you are an inspiration to many young people out there who are in the same situation you were in.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but plan to. It looks delicious.
In going through your recipes I don’t seem to see any serving sizes. Maybe I am missing something and looking too hard. It would be nice to know how many people the recipes would serve.
Thank you.