Vegan Jamaican Jerk Kabobs

Kabob ingredients:

2 8 oz. packages of chicken chunk alternative or organic chicken (plain, no breading)
1 15 oz. can organic pineapple
1 organic red pepper
1 organic yellow pepper
1 organic orange pepper
1 8 oz. package organic portobello mushrooms
½ organic onion

Jamaican Jerk marinade ingredients:

½ cup organic packed brown sugar
8 organic garlic cloves
4 Scotch bonnet peppers
2 bunches organic escallions (green onions)
1 tablespoon organic ground thyme or 2 tablespoons organic thyme leaves
¼ cup organic allspice or ½ cup ground organic allspice berries
1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
½ teaspoon organic nutmeg
2 tablespoons organic soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Dump thawed vegan chicken chunks in a large shallow dish. Use a fork or meat fork to punch holes into the chunks, which will allow them to absorb more marinade. In traditional Jamaican cooking, the meat is scored and rubbed with the sauce for more flavor.

Drain juice from pineapple; reserve juice in a bowl, and add pineapple to the vegan chicken chunks. Chop peppers and portobellos into bite-sized chunks that will easily stay put on a skewer.

Slice the halved onion vertically into wedges. Add peppers, portobellos and onion to the pile of vegan chicken chunks.

Chop escallions and thyme, if you’re using thyme leaves. Add escallions, thyme and all other Jerk marinade ingredients to a blender or food processor; puree until smooth.

When chopping the peppers, be sure to wear rubber gloves, and wash your hands thoroughly afterward. And whatever you do, don’t rub your eye! You can decrease the heat of the peppers by discarding the seeds and by reducing the number of peppers you use.

Likewise, you can turn up the heat by retaining the seeds and increasing
the numbers of peppers. You can add a little more soy sauce, or even some of the pineapple juice, to make the marinade more liquid if you like.

Pour the marinade over the vegan chicken and chopped vegetables. Traditional Jamaican Jerk cooking calls for marinading overnight, then cooking very slow over a low charcoal fire.

But if it’s winter or you’re in a pinch for time, you can marinade the vegan chicken and vegetables in the refrigerator for an hour. Then place them on skewers and broil them until the edges of the vegan chicken and vegetables are crispy and beginning to blacken.

Scotch bonnet peppers are a staple of Jamaican Jerk cooking. They look like a Scottish hat, hence the name. They are similar to habanero peppers, which are the hottest peppers on the planet. If you can’t find any Scotch bonnet peppers, try organic jalapenos.

You can also experiment with using different types of organic produce. Try cherry tomatoes, mangoes--whatever you like.

To make this meal truly traditional Jamaican, serve the kabobs with a side of hard dough bread. Red Stripe beer optional.

Serves four. You be jammin’, mon!