One major problem, a few minor ones--Hawaiian Ham Kabobs

Hawaiian Ham Kabobs
501 Delicious Diabetic Recipes Copyright 2000

1 ( 15 ¼-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon granulated brown sugar substitute I used regular light brown sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 pound reduce-fat, low-salt cooked ham, cut into 1-inch cubes I used turkey ham
1 medium-size green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium-size sweet red pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
Vegetable cooking spray
3 cups cooked long-grain rice (cooked without salt or fat)

1. Drain pineapple chunks, reserving juice. Set pineapple aside.
2. Combine juice, soy sauce, and next 6 ingredients in a shallow dish; stir well. Add ham and pineapple; stir lightly to coat. Cover and marinate in refrigerator at least 15 minutes; stirring occasionally.
3. Remove ham and pineapple from marinade, reserving marinade. Place marinade in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; remove from heat, and set aside. I boiled it until thickened.
4. Thread ham, pineapple and peppers alternately on 12 (10-inch) skewers. Coat grill rack with cooking spray; place grill over medium-hot coals (350 degrees to 400 degrees). Place kabobs on rack, and grill, uncovered, 8 to 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated, turning and basting often with marinade. I used the George Foreman grill. Serve kabobs over rice.

Yield: 6 servings Per serving: 269 cal, 40.5g carbs, 16.1g pro, 4. g fat, 37mg chol, 1.1g fiber, 874mg sodium

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These kabobs missed the mark for one reason - too much ginger. And, once again, I 'knew' this yet I ignored my instincts and put the full amount in. I had other troubles when I made these too. First of all, I had a stabbing headache all day long that day. I was not in the mood for a fiddly recipe but I had no other options. The weather wasn't cooperating so outdoor grilling was out (and hence the large metal skewers I planned to use were out too). Then I discovered that I was out of wooden skewers so I had to use popsicle sticks. Skewering peppers and small chunks of pineapple with rounded popsicle sticks is not fun. If I didn't start out with a headache, I would have had one when I was finished.

In the end, the excess ginger (I should have just substituted some jarred grated ginger) was the only thing that affected the final product. It didn't ruin them but it definitely kept these from being as good as they could have been.

Peppers, pineapple - this is my contribution to Sweetnick's ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays. Kabobs are a great way to add veggies to a meal.

I received some weird hits, resulting from queries on common e-mail extensions, hitting the cookbook giveaway posts - coming from Google Nigeria! I added a note to the latest giveaway post suggesting that you modify your address so it can't be easily picked up by spammers trolling for e-mail addresses. I don't use those addresses for anything except contacting the winner so if you start getting spammed - it wasn't me! Lord, I hate spammers.

Blast From The Past: Ham Steak With Spicy Mustard Sauce from January 2006. That recipe would have been a lot faster and easier to prepare than these kabobs.

Question of the Day: Would you like to see all the spammers in the world lined up and pushed off of a tall cliff?