Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Skewers (Frugal Food Thursday)

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These recipes are also listed at these wonderful linkup parties - thank you to all the hosts for allowing me to link up!

Thanks to Tavern Direct for giving me the marinade and vinegar used in this recipe!

Chicken skewers are a delicious and kid-friendly dish to make.  Who doesn't like food on skewers?

They are pretty easy as well - marinate the meat, put the meat and veggies on skewers, baste with a sauce, and cook!  They can be as basic or as gourmet as you want them to be.

I made chicken skewers a few days ago when I had the chance to try out two specialty food products from Tavern Direct: Old Vine Cabernet & Fire Grilled Garlic Marinade and Summer Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar.

Tavern Direct is the direct marketing arm of New York's famed Tavern on the Green restaurant.  Their products include gourmet marinades and sauces, quality balsamic vinegars, and flavored oils. Eating at Tavern on the Green would be way, way, way beyond most of our budgets, but we can get a taste of the restaurant through these amazing, flavorful products!

And here's what I like most about Tavern Direct: Every product you purchase will help support the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  In fact, Tavern Direct was created with just this mission in mind!    For every product that is purchased, a portion of the proceeds goes directly to NCMEC.

It's nice to bring a bit of gourmet taste to my everyday meals!  So I marinated boneless, skinless chicken breast strips in the Cabernet and garlic marinade for about two hours.  I threaded the chicken, as well as onions and peppers, onto skewers, then brushed the skewers with the strawberry balsamic vinegar.

Now I must be one of the few people in the US without a grill - it's not that we don't want one, it's just lower on the priority list than other things - so I baked my skewers in the oven.  But I would think they would taste even better on the grill!  After baking for half the time, I removed the skewers from the oven and brushed them again with the strawberry balsamic vinegar.

When they were done, the kids dove in.  Well, they just picked at the vegetables, I have to admit.  But they loved the chicken!  And we loved the skewers too!

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to try out two of the Tavern Direct gourmet marinades and balsamic vinegars.  I encourage you to give them a try as well!

Here's the recipe:

STRAWBERRY BALSAMIC CHICKEN SKEWERS

8 10-inch skewers
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Old Vine Cabernet & Fire Grilled Garlic Marinade
2 onions, cut into fourths
1 bell pepper, cut into eighths
1/2 cup Summer Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar

Soak skewers in water for one hour so that they will not burn.

Cut chicken breasts into four strips each.  Place the chicken strips in a bowl and add the marinade.  Place in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove the chicken strips from the marinade.  Thread on each skewer a chicken strip, then an onion piece, then a pepper piece, and then another chicken strip.  (You can add more vegetables if you wish.)

Baste the chicken and vegetables with the strawberry balsamic vinegar.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove skewers from oven and baste again with the strawberry balsamic vinegar. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Makes 8 skewers.

There are lots more easy and cheap recipes posted here at Frugal Follies.  Click here for the list!

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