Quick & Easy Chicken Skewers with Homemade Tzatziki

The weather is starting to warm up here in Cork, which always makes me crave light, spicy dinners.

These skewers are so easy to make- easier (and tastier) still if you can marinade the chicken the night before. And chop the veggies. There's nothing like coming home to a fully-prepped meal you can put together without much concentration.

We make this kind of meal a lot, so metal skewers are an economical choice. Using metal skewers also helps the meat cook quickly from the inside out. If you're using disposable wooden ones, don't forget to wet them under cold water before use to avoid burning.

For The Skewers (Makes 6)

6 Chicken Fillets
4 Capsicum Peppers, Various Colours
1 Courgette
1 Onion
Chop All Of The Above Into Large Chunks Which Wont Break On The Skewer

For The Chicken Marinade

Here's the list of spices I used, you can of course add/remove/adjust to fit your personal taste. These are listed in order of most to least used:

Paprika

Cumin

Salt

Black Pepper

Fennel Seed

Cinnamon

Ground Cardamom

Ground Ginger

Ground Nutmeg

Ground Cloves

Crushed Coriander Seed

Crushed Star Anise

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/ 375F.

2. Combine all your spices in a bowl with a few glugs of olive oil. Add your chicken chunks and mix to coat well. 

Ideally, cover and let the chicken sit overnight in the fridge. An hour or so will do too, but overnight is definitely tastier!

3. The rest is pretty self-explainatory! Build your skewers alternating chicken and vegetables.

4. Lay out on a wire tray and pop in the oven for 30 minutes, turning once during cooking.

While the skewers are in the oven, I like to knock together an awesome homemade tzatziki which compliments the spices perfectly. 

For The Tzatziki

200g Greek Yoghurt

1 Cucumber

Juice of Half A Lemon

1 Clove of Garlic, Crushed

Pinch Of Salt

Pinch Of Black Pepper

Handful Of Fresh Dill, Finely Chopped

1. Cut your cucumber in half and carefully remove all the green skin.

2. Using a cheese grater or similar, grate the cucumber onto a sheet of strong kitchen paper. (It's important to use a strong paper so you don't end up with chunks in your tzatziki!) When you're done grating, fold all the cucumber up into the paper towel and squeeze to remove as much moisture as possible.

3. In a bowl, combine the yoghurt, grated cucumber, lemon juice, garlic, dill, salt and pepper. Mix Well and chill slightly before serving. Sprinkle with a few springs of dill if desired.