My life is kind of driven by lists, grocery lists, recipe ideas, appointments, blog posts, blah, bah, blah. Sometimes Post-it notes take over my life – I guess you can say I’m a planner. But when it comes to planning meals in advance? Yeah.. not so much. Honestly, I pretty much suck at planning a meal more than a few hours ahead of time, and really have no desire to do it. I am in utter awe of the bloggers that rock the whole meal planning concept out days, weeks, or months at a time, but it’s just not for me.
A typical day of meal planning through text messages:
Brian: “Hey, what’s for dinner?”
Me: “No idea – What are in the mood for?”
Brian: “Not sushi.”
Me: “Okay, are you in the mood for anything?”
Brian: “Meat”
Me: “Okay, well I’ve caught on to that after five years, anything specific?”
Brian: “No”
Me: “Thanks so much for the help!”
Brian: “No problem.”
Seriously this conversation happens at least four days a week. So I’ll usually scope out the fridge and pantry and figure out what I have on hand and what I can whip up to please Brian’s uber descriptive craving.
Earlier this week my fridge was overflowing with produce, so I thought I’d put the onions and peppers to good use and whip up these Asian Chicken Kebabs. Although they were not the juicy steak that Brian had in mind, he loved the sweet and slightly spicy flavor of these kebabs and declared this meal a keeper – which is a pretty good rating from someone who is not so fond of chicken.
I served these Asian Chicken Kebabs alongside steamed rice and grilled asparagus with a little finishing garnish of toasted sesame seeds and green onions. This meal was simple, delicious and perfect for a summer evening.
Looking for more delicious recipes for grilling?
Grilled Peaches with Marscapone Whip from goodLife {eats}
Fajitas from Bluebonnets & Brownies
Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Kabobs from Cookin’ Canuck
Grilled Corn Grits from the Nifty Foodie
How to Grill Pizza from Tidy Mom
Grilled Caesar Salad from Simple Bites
So tell me, are you a meal planner?
Asian Chicken Kebabs
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
For the Marinade
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1-2 teaspoons Sriracha (or other hot sauce)
3 slices fresh ginger root
2 cloves garlic, crushedFor the Kebabs
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
1 large green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 red onion, cut into wedges
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch piecesDirections:
1. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the soy sauce, oil, honey, Sriracha, ginger root, and garlic. Heat in microwave on medium for 1 minute, then stir. Heat again for 30 seconds, watch closely so it doesn’t boil. Set aside.
2. Thread the chicken, green bell pepper, onion, and red bell pepper pieces onto skewers alternately. Place skewers in a shallow baking dish and cover with marinade. Cover dish and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
3. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill Asian Chicken Kebabs until chicken is just cooked through, turning occasionally, about 9-12 minutes.
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may like...
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
I am not a planner! We have that same conversation every night, which typically leads to a run to the grocery store and dinner at 9 pm. It’s frustrating but we won’t change!
These look really yummy. Maybe I’ll try to “plan” to make these this week!
Aughhh, we have that same conversation too, although sometimes Dan substitutes “pasta” or “nachos” for “meat.” I think he’d consent happily to eating these kebabs, though.
These look so awesome! I am all over kebabs lately because they cook up so fast and don’t need as long to marinade as a big hunk of chicken. Thanks for sharing!
We are kinda sorta meal planners. On the weekend we’ll sit down together and think of meals we might like to have that week. We buy the ingredients, and then just pick and choose throughout the week as to what we’re having for dinner that night based on the ingredients/meals we thought of. We once did this for an entire month in advance, and it was good – and cheaper – but it kind of took the joy out of cooking for me. It wasn’t nearly so much an adventure anymore.
I laughed a bit when I saw your tweet and couldn’t wait to see your plan; turns out your plan is my plan. No plan.
I keep a well stocked pantry, lots of meat in the freezer (Costco does make some of these things happen whether you plan it or not!) and get a twice monthly box of organic fruits and veggies delivered to my door. So I plan meals around what I have on hand and seldom make up a grocery list from what a recipe needs.
This dish looks great and is so doable and right up my alley. Grilling R Us.
Ok, so with the meal planning I go in and out of doing a good job of it. Summer I’m usually less organized, but you have to check out this notebook. I love it!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/71367191/notebook-menu-planner-grocery-list?ref=pr_shop
I am sooo not a meal planner! These kebobs sound fantastic. I haven’t been grilling enough. Thanks for the inspiration!
Sounds like a convo I’d have! These look amazing!
I’m a meal planner, but it’s not necessarily specific to certain days of the week. I’ll plan 8-10 meals according to what’s on hand or a recipe I want to try. Then I make them throughout the next week or so according to my mood. Your kebabs look delicious!
These look amazing! Can’t wait to try them. I’m a planner at heart, I love to meal plan. It took me a while to figure out that it is better to come up with a list of food I want to have this week rather than specifying which days I’m having different foods. Sometimes you just aren’t in the mood for what you have scheduled. The flexibility turned out to be key for me.
This is a great idea! Yum!
Jamie – I come to the blog to see what you are baking and cooking, but I really enjoy reading the funny snippets of your life that you sometimes include in your posts. I found myself laughing out loud reading your meal plan text conversation!
Yum! Asian food is amazing
Delicious and flavor packed kebabs look so yummy…
Ha ha, that sounds like the conversation I have with my husband every day! These look delicious, I’ll try them next week. Thanks for the chuckle and great ideas
Part of the benefits of having gotten into food photography and blogging is that Linda and I have become very deliberate about what we are going to prepare and seem to base our days around what’s for dinner.
Fortunately for her, I’ll eat anything that is not still moving of its own accord. Our only problem is not having a yard or patio from which to grill. Our converted commercial building is built full to the lot lines and we would have to grill out on the sidewalk, which might draw uninvited dinner guests…
I’m not a meal planner. Our meals happen the same way…I ask H what he wants…he says “I don’t know.”…I come up with an idea…he says “nah…back and forth. Erg…it’s pretty difficult!!
Thanks for linking to the corn grits on my blog, by the way!
That conversation sounds awfully familiar! These kabobs are mouthwatering and your photos make them look even better.
Gee, that conversation sounds familiar! Men…sigh. Lucky for me, these kebabs look pretty simple to throw together for those nights the Mr. isn’t any help at all.
Haha! I have the exact same conversation with my husband every week! They can’t think past protein, i.e. Meat! Why do we even bother?
We rarely planned meals until we had more kids. It became a necessity in order to maintain some level of sanity while juggling everyone’s schedules. Before that, Ole and I were very much in-the-moment meal planners, sometimes hitting up the farmers market hours before it was time to eat.
Geez your photos are stunning!
We eat what I feel like eating, except it can’t be seafood because the husband can’t eat it. Whenever I ask what he wants he says, “I dunno…we’ll figure it out,” and the conversation ends there. So I gotta be proactive and just make what I want. He’ll eat it and like it!
I’m a meal planner and I always want to try new things, my husband on the other hand has no ideas or the same ideas. I try to plan out our meals on the weekends so we generally have an idea of what we’re going to have for the week and when it doesn’t happen, there’s mass confusion which includes multiple texts in one day about dinner. LOL
That pretty much sums up how mountain man and I do dinner every night of the week! I can’t wait to send this recipe his way the next time he asks
I’m definitely a planner when I’m cooking for myself at school, since I go grocery shopping weekly and try not to buy anything I won’t have immediate use for. At home…er…less so. Much less so.
These look really good, especially with the rice and aspergrass, as my kids used to call it.
Mmmmm, mmmmmm, good!
These look really terrific. Your impromptu meals is a feast!
So helpful aren’t they? That’s why I stopped asking, now dinner is what I feel like!
Wow – the kebabs look incredible!
YUP! I am SO a meal planner. I have a notebook for my food – when it’s open, one side has the recipes (by day) I’m cooking…including the book name and page number. The other side has my grocery list.
I sit down, usually once every 5-6 days and go through my cookbooks based on what I’m in the mood to make and what’s in season. Winging it is not for me…
At least Brian tells you he wants meat, my husbands reply is always “food”.
Not so much of a meal planner. Only wished! Those kebabs are looking so delicious. Perfect for summer since it takes a shorter time to grill. The weather sucks big time these days!!!
I think men from all over the world have the same problem. I live in Belgium, Europe and when I ask my husband what he wants for dinner, he just says: I don’t care, just make something and I’ll eat it. Then I cook something and he makes faces like: do I have to eat that??!!
It just makes my crazy.
Most of the time I plan my meal in the morning
for weekends I plan on Friday
I’m such a failure when it comes to meal planning. The few times that I’ve tried it, we usually change our mind or something happens, whether schedule or what have ya, that changes it for us. I like to stay stocked with the essentials and go from there.
This is totally on my to make list – looks amazing and I can already taste it. Thank you!!
ButterYum
So funny about the men and planning – my husband is the same way. Seems I usually ask him what he wants to eat in the next (day, week) at a time when he is not hungry. So all I get is “I don’t know, I’m not hungry NOW”. I need to catch him at a time when he’s STARVING and ask him for SEVERAL things he’d like to eat – make one now and plan the others for later in the week – ha. I have so many recipes I want to try, I geet a little overwhelmed with shopping and planning. Trying to create a repertoire of tried and true’s.
This recipe looks awesome – love Asian marinades. Considering other veggies to add/substitute…. Hmmmm
I’d say we’re PRETTY good at meal planning – sort of. Hmmm… Sometimes.
If I actually sit down on a Sunday and think the week through I do better.
Anyway, this is a marvelous looking dish (EVERYTHING you make is gorgeous, and I love your photos…).
For people trying to use less glycemic sweeteners, agave would be good in this marinade – and if people need it to be gluten-free, a high quality wheat-free soy or tamari would work (usually in the “Natural” or “organic” section of the supermarket).
We’re having company tomorrow night, and I think we’ll give this recipe a try!
Hugs,
Kath
Great looking meal. I love everything about it.
Not only delicious but unbelievably simple! Thank you! And, by the way, that exact same conversation goes on at our house too…
I have the same conversation as well & I am now quite sure that it is a genetic trait that men have… I am not a list person, or a planner. In fact, I hate most recipes because I have to inevitably go to the store for missing ingredients. My cooking style is bricolage -(def) a construction made of whatever materials are at hand; something created from a variety of available things.
The only complaint I get is that even when the meal is the same, it is not. I love that you improvise and your recipes guide me to great new ideas! Just don’t ever ask me for a recipe….
Laughed so much reading this- sounds exactly like my life. Someday I’ll write a blog post about “Adventures in Sending Your Boyfriend/Husband to the Grocery Store”. Love the marinade recipe as well, I was thinking of making kebabs this week and I will definitely try these.
Mouth.Watering. lol
Ha! I am the same way when it comes to meal planning, and we have the SAME conversation at our house all the time. One time, my hubby requested “something Mexican with meat”. I have never let him live that one down… I also have pretty much stopped asking him for ideas.
This dish looks great, though. I’ll have to put it on my non-menu for the week!
HA! My boyfriend and I have the exact same conversations. Usually though it involves “meat” and “something spicy”! I know exactly how you feel; I usually have a good idea of what is in the house but sometimes stop off at the store to supplement my ideas!
These look delicious! Do you think ground ginger would be okay to substitute for fresh and if so how much? I love fresh ginger but always end up with a large amount wasted when I purchase it so like to avoid doing so if possible. Thanks!
Stephanie-
I think ground ginger would work fine, maybe try 1/4 teaspoon – that’s just a guess because I don’t use ground ginger all that much. Hope this helps.
-Jamie
Thank you so much! I will be trying this out this week so I will let you know how the ground ginger turns out
I’ve made this several times. it’s so good. i leave off the spices since my kids eat them too.
Just made these tonight and they were AMAZING!! I used Trader Joe’s chicken tenders instead of breasts. I wish I had made more so I could have had left overs for lunch tomorrow
Steph-
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for stopping by and providing your feedback – have a great day!
-Jamie
Asian Chicken Kebabs-Thank YOU for this* Easy & * DELICIOUS recipe!!! Will be making these again & again, and will probably make extra marinade to keep for a sauce.