Harissa Chicken Kabobs

Harissa is a delicious North African hot sauce.  A spicy paste made of red chilis, garlic and warm spices including cumin and caraway. It has a zillion uses, add it to soups or stews, marinate meats, use it as a sandwich spread, infuse grains like rice or couscous or use it to make a great, quick pasta sauce.  Check out this Harissa Spaghettini recipe from 101 cookbooks, really delicious and innovative stuff.  Today's recipe for chicken kabobs uses Harissa as a base for a marinade.  The addition of more warm spices, garlic, olive oil and a hint of lime juice packs a ton of flavour and moisture into this chicken.  I serve the kabobs with Harissa spiked aioli for dipping and Israeli salad (which I'll tell you about before tomato season is over).

Harissa Chicken Kabobs
Origin: Jaime, Impeccable Taste

Notes:  I make my own Harissa to avoid the small amounts of sugar that the store bought varieties usually contain.  I find the spices are more fragrant in the homemade variety which is a bonus, but seriously, buy yourself a jar/tube, save some time and you'll bump up the spices in the chicken marinade.  The recipe I use for homemade Harissa is here.

Ingredients:

3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 lime, juiced
3 generous tablespoons Harissa
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup olive oil
skinless boneless chicken breasts (the marinade makes enough to coat 2-4 lbs of chicken)
Harissa Aioli for serving (see recipe below)

Prepare the marinade.  In a large bowl, whisk together the garlic, lime juice, Harissa, spices and olive oil.

Cut the chicken breasts into cubes about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches in size.  Add cubed chicken to the marinade.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour (the longer the better).

When you are ready to grill, thread chicken onto skewers.  Grill over high heat for 12-15 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear.


Harissa Aioli
Origin: Jaime, Impeccable Taste

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use homemade olive oil mayo)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Harissa
salt

Combine mayo, lime juice, garlic and Harissa in a medium bowl, season with salt and whisk to combine.  Chill until ready to serve.