OmniVeggie

It was a bright and sunny day.

The birds were chirping and The Band was playing on the Patented Bathroom Sound System (before you get all "Ooo and Ahh!" on us, the Patented Bathroom Sound System is a couple of old desktop computer speakers from 1999 and an iPod) and Hannah asked me, if I was hungry and wanted lunch. Well, with the day being so nice, what else would I want to do?

"Well, what do we have in there?"

"Two carrots, celery, some fennel and some hummus. I think we have some tzatziki in there and maybe some pizza sauce. Oh and cream you whipped the other day."

"No soup?"

"Just that yellow pea soup from the other night."

"Eh."

"Yeah."

"Well, what do you want for supper? Then we can go out, get lunch and supper stuff."

This took us upstairs into the kitchen and into the hands of that British gent, Jamie Oliver. We flipped through the two books of his that we own and nothing looked good. Oh, don't get me wrong, shit looks great (I'm looking in your direction, Roasted Chicken Breast Wrapped in Pancetta with Leeks and Thyme) but it wasn't nailing us right in the tummies. Finally after threatening to not eat lunch at all and perhaps take a nap or launch a mad scientist-like assault on the world governments (not plausible, evidently), we settled on a gouda-and-pickled-jalepeno quesadilla for me and a veggie wrap for Hannah.

"All I'm saying is, I'll settle for this veggie wrap if you do something extraordinary for dinner."

Given that a quesadilla is little more than a Mexican grilled cheese sandwich and I LOVE grilled cheese, I agreed.

This, of course, put the pressure on me. Come up with something amazing, or, you scrawny little punk, there will be hell to pay, as I just suffered through a wrap consisting solely of root veg and feta. You botch this and call for pea burgers and I not only will leave you that moment, but I will also take the cat. AND my cake skills.



GASP




Citrus Spiced Kebabs

for the marinade:
6 Navel oranges
1 tbsp good honey
1/2 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp coriander seeds, bashed up
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
about 7 mint leaves, chopped
Salt & Pepper

for the kebabs themselves:
1 red pepper
1 green cubanella pepper
5 mushrooms, halved
1 zucchini, sliced into thick 1/4 in. coins
4 cloves garlic, halved
1 medium red onion, cut into eighths
1 chicken breast, cut into fingers

extra materials:
skewers, wooden or metal

If you are using the wooden skewers, let them soak in water, for about a half an hour or so, as you are prepping everything. This way, they won't burn when you put them in the oven.

Squeeze 4 of the oranges into a bowl. Add everything you need for the marinade, mix up and set in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, to let the flavors mellow.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees, F.

Meanwhile, cut up the veggies and the chicken. Poke the skewers through the meat and veggies in whatever order you want. Doesn't matter. Have fun with it. Place into a glass baking dish, drizzle the marinade/sauce over the kebabs. Once you have placed your kebabs into the baking dish, squeeze the juice of the remaining two oranges over your skewers. It will add just a hint more acid and a bit more liquid for cooking.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes; 20 minutes covered in aluminum foil, and ten minutes uncovered.

Serve over rice (we used basmati).


Enjoy. Our kitty Yossarian sure did.