Chicken, Italian Sausage and Sweet Pepper Skewers

One challenge when you are cooking light is that perhaps not everyone in your household wants to eat light. My husband is more than happy to oblige me when I’m doing a week of French cooking, but I know for a fact that when I was pregnant and had gestational diabetes he ate pizza at lunch a lot.

This recipe is for those of us out there that have people at home who once in a while would like a rich, satisfying meal. But it is also for those of us out there who don’t want to compromise eating healthy for our loved ones. The key is that it includes sausage, if you prefer you can use low-fat turkey sausage, but if you are trying to fool a loved one regular sausage is the only thing that will do.

This recipe is really best cooked on the grill, but as it is February and we live in Hoboken I plan to cook it on my stove-top in my grill pan. You can also cook it under your broiler. For the healthy eaters I would serve this with rice, though honestly I love to serve it with orzo that has been topped by some snipped basil and grape tomatoes.

Chicken, Italian Sausage and Sweet Pepper Skewers

Serves 4 to 6

4 Italian sausages (I like to do a mix of hot and mild to please everybody)
1 large boneless chicken breast
2 medium sweet peppers (I like to use red, but if you can find orange or yellow use one of those)
2 small zucchini
1/2 of a red onion
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil

Prick the sausages all over and place in a shallow saucepan. Cover halfway with water and cook over medium heat until almost cooked all the way through, about 10 minutes. Cut the chicken and the cooked sausage into pieces about 1 inch in size.

Core and seed the peppers and cut them into pieces the same size as the meat. Repeat this process with the remaining vegetables.

In a shallow dish combine the meat and the vegetables. Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the meat and vegetables. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours up to 8 hours.

Soak six 12-inch wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes. Alternating ingredients thread each skewer with a mixture of sausage, chicken, pepper, onion and zucchini.

In a grill pan, on the grill, or in the oven at 450 or under the broiler cook the skewers for 15 to 20 minutes until the chicken and sausage is cooked through and everything has a nice char on it. Baste a few times with the remaining marinade. Enjoy!