Lemon Sesame Chicken & Vegetable Kebab Recipe

Dad’s lemon sesame chicken kebab recipe is a throwback to my childhood summer dinner table. In trying to name them to reflect their deliciousness – because mom’s recipe card just calls them marinated chicken kebabs – I was in danger of going down the Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo hole… And we know how THAT turned out so when naming this recipe, I took a mouthful and picked the first flavors I tasted. Yes, that is how I roll… which is two ingredients better than my mother rolls apparently. Love you, Buns!

Naming business aside, you have to know that these chicken kebabs are more than just lemon and sesame marinated. While they do have the bright acidity of lemon and the smooth nuttiness of sesame, they’ve also absorbed the salty umami of soy sauce, the sweet heat of ginger and the everythings-better-with-garlic-ness of garlic. Combined with the grilled magic of vegetables tucked between, these lovely kebabs (or kabobs or kobobs) will, hopefully, make you and yours as happy to tuck into as we’ve been all these years.

Family Story Time aka HIT THE “JUMP TO RECIPE” LINK ABOVE

There are few things that give me the warm and fuzzy fond memories of Dad, aka George David – other than a lovely eponymous George’s cocktail on the patio – more than grilling. A restauranteur by trade when I met him, he generally left the home cooking to mom for our family of seven. But get the grill out and he’d be in the kitchen like nobody’s business. And while big hunks of meat or burgers were certainly in his wheelhouse, I most remember him making kebabs.

These lemon sesame chicken kebabs with vegetables were a frequent flyer (as were his lamb and beef kebabs which I’ll share another time). He’d whip up the marinade in the morning and toss in the cubes of meat, puttering around cutting vegetables and generally flexing his restaurant kitchen muscles (which included a hefty dose of THIS IS HOW YOU CLEAN and GET OUT OF THIS KITCHEN UNLESS YOU WANT TO CLEAN WHILE I SHOW YOU THIS IS HOW YOU CLEAN).

He may spend the rest of the day doing yard working, cleaning the pool (another stay out the way unless you wanted to know THIS IS HOW YOU CLEAN) then floating in the pool or, if the weather wasn’t cooperating, he’d watch old Westerns and enjoy a sandwich of Italian meats and cheeses on a Kaiser roll with spicy mustard… funny what you remember.

As the date got later and the sun started to drop you’d be floating in the pool or drowning a sibling, whichever was striking your fancy at the moment, when all of the sudden a waft of meaty smoke would float your way. It was the first sign the fire was lit once Dad discovered the joy of push- button gas. Somewhere between the pool or yard work and the wafting, he’d spirited into the kitchen to assemble an army’s worth of meticulously skewered kebabs. And they were always uniform (note my instructions below).

Dinner time

We’d be called out of the pool or from down the street and wrapped in soppy towels we’d burn our fingers pulling the meat and vegetables off the skewers. They were piled high on almost neon yellow saffron rice next to a simple green salad and then there would be silence.

Except the grill scraping going on to complete the THIS IS HOW YOU CLEAN portion of dinner. I have many things to thank Dad for, not the least of which was taking me on as his child when I was probably less than a likeable sort (I was five!), but his work ethic – at the restaurant(s) and later as a realtor – both professionally and as a person I pay homage to and emulate with diligence (and a bit of sass, yes?). Do your best work and do good for others… feed them well. AND THIS IS HOW YOU CLEAN.

Recipe Bits & Bobs

Marinade Ingredients

In his original chicken kebab recipe, Dad used dry ginger powder; probably because the recipe’s been around forever but getting fresh gingerroot hasn’t. However, I like the flavor of fresh better so that’s what I use. If dry is all you have, by all means, do as Dad did. You can also use refrigerated lemon juice in place of fresh. Will it be delicious? Yep, just as tasty as it is from the bottle. Is that a caveat? You betcha.

Vegetables

Determining amount of cut veg you need for kebabs isn’t an exact science. I always err on the side of too many because, well, cleaned and chopped vegetables never go to waste around here.

Bonus: If you get marinade fingers into the cleaned vegetables, they are no longer safe to eat raw. However, take the leftover marinade, toss with those vegetables, and roast at 425F Convection. Toss every ten minutes or so and you’ll have some fantastic vegetables to park in the fridge for another night.

Timing

The marinade can stay on the chicken at least two hours but at most, eight. I like to have it mixed up and in the fridge around noon and on the grill at six-ish. If that timing doesn’t work for you, take the chicken out of the marinade and prepare the skewers. Then cover them in a deep dish (see pic below), and you’ll get another few hours before cooking without over-marinating.

NB. The problem with over-marinating, especially chicken, is the acid starts to break down the meat and creates a pretty unappetizing mushy texture.

I hope you try Dad’s chicken kebab recipe. And I’m sure – in the heavenly realm where he’s now enjoying his grilling – Dad will be watching over you, too. So, please do clean up after yourselves.

If you’re on Instagram, please @ and/or # me at @piececrustandpasta … I love to see what you’re making and will troubleshoot questions, including pool algae removal and backwash best-practices.