Grilled avocado and tandoori chicken
Be the first on your block to put grilled avocados on the menu.
My firstborn has always enjoyed cooking. I am a firm believer that kids belong in the kitchen mixing, tossing, and chopping from the earliest possible age, and he is a product of that.
In preschool he came home with a yummy recipe for apple pie and insisted we make it that afternoon. In junior high he had a small business making and selling homemade pasta. In high school (inspired by the movie "Chef") he threw a summer dinner for a dozen friends. So, it was no surprise that on a warm night after coming back from his first year at college he asked if he could help me cook dinner. I was heading out to the store to pick up ingredients for grilled tandoori chicken kebabs. As I headed out, he called after me to add a bag of avocados to my list. I asked what he wanted to make.
"Grilled avocados!"
It seems to me chefs everywhere have gone grill crazy — grilling pizzas and nectarines seems commonplace. But avocados? I don't much like avocados except in a fresh and spicy guacamole so I replied:
"Ugh."
Well, I ate my words. And everyone he has served grilled avocados to since has eaten them too. Hard to understand why grilling an avocado makes it so yummy but it does. Try for yourself!
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons lime juice, divided
- 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped coarsely
- 2 jalapeño peppers stemmed, seeded, and cored
- 4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks and strung on wooden skewers
- 6 just ripe avocados
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
- In a blender or food processor, puree 2 tablespoons of lime juice with yogurt, garlic, ginger, and jalapeño until smooth.
- Pour the yogurt sauce over the skewered chicken in a 9-inch by 13-inch glass baking dish.
- Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight, turning skewers occasionally.
- Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
- Cut avocados in half and remove the pits.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of lime juice with the olive oil. Use half of this mixture to brush each avocado half.
- Grill the avocados cut side down until grill marks appear.
- Turn cut side up and place on a platter. Brush again with the oil and lime juice mixture, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the chicken skewers from the refrigerator and discard any excess sauce.
- Grill the chicken over high heat on a lightly oiled grate with the cover down, turning occasionally, until grill marks appear and the chicken is cooked through (to 165 F).
- Serve on a clean platter and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
Nutrition information (per serving)
- Calories: 527
- Total fat: 41 g
- Saturated fat: 6.5 g
- Unsaturated fat: 32.5 g
- Cholesterol: 45 mg
- Sodium: 139 mg
- Total carbohydrate: 22 g
- Dietary fiber: 14 g
- Total sugars: 3 g
- Protein: 25 g