Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs with BBQ Dipping Sauce

    Emma has been asking for quite some time to make this recipe!  The girl LOVES pineapple.  She really likes pineapple pizza.  When we have "Make Your Own Pizza" nights for dinner, her go to pizza is diced ham and pineapple.  I am so blessed to have children that are not picky eaters.  I truly believe that it is in part our doing that we don't have picky eaters.  The children are told that they need to try everything that is served for dinner that night.  There is always plenty for them to eat on the table if there is something they try that they don't like, but we want to expose them to new things and we ask that they try whatever it is that is new.  9 times out of 10 they like what they try so we add it to our repertoire.  These kabobs are a perfect example.  Not everyone likes peppers, so if they don't like the pepper, they have the chicken and pineapple to eat, and oftentimes someone else will take the peppers the other one didn't eat.  Works out perfectly!

    When we serve the kabobs for dinner, we take them off of the skewer and serve.  This what no one gets poked with the tip, and makes it easier for the kids to eat and not have to struggle with the skewer.  

    I will often prepare these in advance, after marinating the chicken in the hawaiian teriyaki sauce for a couple of hours.  You can save the sauce to use to baste the kabobs while they are cooking on the grill.

This recipe will serve 6.

Ingredients:

• 3 large chicken breasts, cut into 1 in. pieces
• 1 15 oz. can diced pineapple with juice
• 2 green peppers, cut into 1 in. pieces
• 14 skewers
• 1/2 c. soy sauce
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp ginger, ground
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Add pineapple juice from the can of diced pineapple, then soy sauce through salt and pepper into a large bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Add chicken pieces to bowl.  Marinate for about 2 hours. 
2. While the chicken is marinating, cut the green peppers into 1 in. pieces.  
3. Make kabobs.  There is no set way to make the kabobs, just be sure to alternate between chicken, pineapple and peppers, pictured above.  We had 5 pieces of chicken on each skewer, but 4 would be just fine.
4. While you are preparing the kabobs, if you will be serving right away, preheat the grill.  You can make the kabobs in advance and store, covered in the fridge until you are ready to grill.  
5. Place kabobs on the heated grill.  Rotate kabobs every 5 minutes or so.  This will allow for even cooking and grill marks on the chicken, et al.  We did have a few kabobs that were only peppers and pineapple.  I didn't grill them on the direct heat, but placed them in the rack above.  This allowed them to heat through, but not cook that much faster than the chicken.  
6. Use the remaining marinade the baste the chicken during cooking.  Be sure to allow marinade to cook on the kabobs after basting due to the raw chicken juices.  Save some to make the BBQ Dipping Sauce.
7. We didn't have any left to make a BBQ dipping sauce, but if you do, you MUST cook it because there was raw chicken in it.  To make the BBQ Dipping Sauce combine 1/2 c. ketchup, 1/2 c. BBQ sauce, marinade (if you don't have marinade add 1/4 c. soy sauce and 2 tsp. lemon juice and 1 tsp honey) to a small sauce pot.  Bring to a low boil.  Stir well to combine.  Reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to thicken.  Serve as a dipping sauce on the side with the kabobs.  

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs, BBQ Dipping Sauce, and Teriyaki Pasta Salad