Recipe 3: HAWAIIAN CHICKEN WITH PASTA(Main Course)

THE SOURCE:  It was November 2003. My Husbands baby brother was getting married in Illinois.   We flew into Chicago and stayed with my best friend Lindsey.  After the wedding several hours away, we drove back to Chicago and stayed for an extra day.
Lindsey prepared this dish for us, saying HER mom made it a few weeks ago and gave her the recipe. 
Dont know exactly where her mom got the recipe. It
is so delicious, simple and F.O. Worthy.

This is a main course dish that consists of grilling Kebobs, and then un-kebobing them over pasta.
This is one of those recipes that you will crave and will make the pasta with just the sauce.  Or you may make the kebabs with the marinade. Or you may make them together.  This is a great recipe that is very versatile for any situation.   Either way you will get bombarded for the recipe.

So get the broiler ready, pull out those Kebab sticks and get ready to rock your tastebuds.


HAWAIIAN CHICKEN WITH PASTA AND MACADAMIA NUTS

1. Start by Soaking Bamboo Skewers in water.  If you dont soak them first they can burn. trust me...
2. Drain a 20oz can of pineapple chunks, RESERVE  1/3 cup of pineapple juice.
3.  Mix together the following, whisking well to combine everything completely.
    3/4 cup soy sauce
   1/2 cup packed brown sugar
    1 1/2 tsp FRESH grated ginger(do not use dry)
    2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or 2 tsp from a jar)
    2 TBSP Sesame Oil
   1/3 cup of the reserved Pineapple juice
SET ASIDE 1 CUP OF THIS MARINADE. DO NOT TOUCH IT UNTIL THE VERY END. DONT EVEN LOOK AT IT!!! Just put it in a corner and ignore it.



In gallon sized ziplocks, put the following:
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 sweet onion, cut into chunks (white onion, like a vidalia or sweet texas or maui)
1 green bell pepper cut into chunks
the 20oz can of Chunk Pineapple(drained)
sensing a theme here with the chunk? chunk chunk chunk, everything's a chunk.

Add the leftover soy sauce mixture/marinade to this bag with the chunks, making sure everything gets coated well.
refrigerate and let marinate for 40 minutes, but no more than an hour. Turn every 20 minutes, to make sure all components in bag are getting evenly marinated.

Remember those skewers you were soaking??  Pull those out.  On these skewers,  put the chicken, onion, peppers and pineapples on them.  You can make any pattern desired.  Unless you are making these as kebobs it doesnt really matter because after they are done grilling you are de-skewering them.
Even though I know it doesnt matter I have food OCD and I will make sure I have a nice ratio on every skewer. I am kind of wacky like that.

grill or broil 8-10 minutes, turning after 4 minutes.  Grill times are approximate, just make sure the chicken is grilled through...dont want to send people home with Salmonella.

Now, while these are grilling you can boil your angel hair pasta!
Use 1 lb angel hair pasta and boil in a pot of water with 1 TBSP olive oil added to it.  Angel Hair pasta doesnt take excessively long, so keep an eye on it! (if you are using whole wheat pasta it will take about 8 minutes.  If you use regular angel hair, about 3 or 4 minutes)

Once chicken is done grilling, de-kabob everything into a bowl and throw skewers away.
Add cooked pasta to the un-kabobs and toss completely.
NOW, here is where the magic happens.  Take that RESERVED MARINADE and pour it over the pasta!  Toss everything well to evenly coat.
NOW- Top with 1/4 cup chopped toasted macadamia nuts.

VOILA.

You can also substitute the angel hair pasta for 2-3 cups hot white rice.

I have used JUST the kabobs for grilling. I have made JUST the pasta when I was craving that marinade.
Each individual component is amazing, but put them together and it will be like a KY Intense commercial. Fireworks, geysers erupting, opera...you get the drift.

ENJOY!!