Made-Up Marinade

Until now, I've always used bottled marinades for grilled meats and veggies. There's always something fun at Trader Joe's that I want to try. But now that I (sorta, kinda) know how to cook, I decided to make my own for our Memorial Day grill-fest. After a little Food Blog Search time, I chose to base my concoction on this recipe from the ever-reliable Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen. It was fantastic; another go-to recipe added to my repertoire!



I'm calling this my Made-Up Marinade because I grabbed anything in my kitchen that looked good and threw it in, making up the mixture as I went. It will probably never be the same twice. It was great on veggies, and the chicken was by far the moistest we've ever made. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, classic grilling veggies (peppers, onions, zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes), and my favorite: pineapple. Cut everything in relatively uniform chunks before arranging on the skewers.

Made-Up Marinade
Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen
Printable Recipe

3/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
2 tbsp. dijon mustard
2 tsp. crushed garlic
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. Spike seasoning
Pinch of kosher salt and black pepper
Vegetables, pineapple, and boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

Whisk all ingredients (except veggies and chicken, obviously) together in a medium bowl. Place veggies in one Ziplock bag, and chicken in another. Pour half of the marinade into each bag, seal, and shake well to coat. Refrigerate until ready to grill, at least an hour.

Arrange veggies and meat on skewers and grill on high on a preheated grill until chicken is cooked through and veggies are nice and charred, and turning occasionally, about 15-20 minutes.