A Little Spice in Your Life

I meant to make this Thursday but my plans changed. I used to make this fairly often but it fell out of rotation. I have no idea why, but it's going back on the regular schedule.

Spicy Grilled Chicken and Green Onions (from Bon Appetit)

2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 TBSP hot sauce
2 tsp honey
1 tsp paprika
7 green onions
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1. Prepare barbecue (medium high heat). Whisk oil, hot sauce, honey and paprika in a 9-inch glass pie dish to blend. Mince one green onion; mix into marinade. Transfer 2 TBSP marinade to a small bowl and reserve. Add chicken to glass dish to coat. Let stand 10 minutes, turning occasionally.

2. Sprinkle chicken and remaining green onions with salt Grill both until chicken is cooked through and onions soften, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken and onions to plates. Drizzle with reserved marinade.

I served this with a green salad and cheddar bacon grits. It quick and delicious. It is flavorful but my 5 year old ate it, so it isn't too spicy. It can easily be doubled or more for a crowd.

Dinner Speed Record

Tonight, my son had Tae Kwon Do from 4:30 to 5:15 and then his graduation ceremony for his next belt at 6:45, so I needed a quick dinner. Shrimp cooks quickly so I knew this would be a winner. There were three glaze recipes, I tried two.

Soy-Ginger Glaze (all from EveryDay Food magazine)

In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 C orange marmalade, 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce and 1 tsp grated, peeled ginger.

Chipotle-Lime Glaze

Ina small bowl, stir together 1/4 C orange marmalade, 1 1/2 tsp liquid from chipotle chiles in adobo and 1 tsp fresh lime juice.

I used these on shrimp. They can be used on any kind of meat or salmon. Brush the sauce on two minutes before the meat is finished cooking and then brush it again just after removing it from the grill. You'll get the most bang for your buck if you do whole shrimp or cubes of steak/chicken/pork on skewers. They added a nice flavor to the shrimp. I thought the soy-ginger was actually more flavorful. I served this with rice and salad. I managed to prepare, serve and eat this meal in 1 hour. It's fast.

Here's the third glaze:
Orange-Mustard Glaze

In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 C orange marmalade and 1 1/2 tsp grainy mustard.

A Little Spice in your Life

Now that we're back in grilling weather, I'm breaking out all my summer recipes. And I always love another way to prepare chicken.

Pepper Lime Chicken (I think I got this one from Caroline back in Japan...)

2-2 1/2 lbs. chicken
1/2 tsp shredded lime peel
1/4 C lime juice (one lime)
1 TBSP cooking oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp coarsely ground pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in a large Ziploc bag and rub marinade into chicken. Allow to stand at least 1 hour. Grill chicken.

I served this with cous cous and microwave veggies for a quick and easy dinner. The citrus and pepper and a great combination and can accompany almost anything.

He is an Halibut

My husband was out of town for a week so I haven't been doing much cooking. But he's home now and after dinner with friends last night, I thought I'd try something new. I swore I had a halibut recipe, so I pick up some fish on my way home. But when I got here, I couldn't find the recipe. I already had the fish so I went to epicurious.com (I LOVE epicurious.com) fora back up plan. And I found this great recipe.

Grilled Halibut with Chimichurri sauce (from Gourmet Magazine)

1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP water
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP minced shallot
3/4 tsp hot red pepper flakes
3/4 C chopped flat leaf parsley
4 (6-8 oz) halibut steaks (3/4 to an inch thick)
1 TBSP vegetable oil

1. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, water, garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper, until salt has dissolved. Stir in parsley. Let stand for 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the grill for direct heat cooking on medium heat. Pat the fish dry brush with vegetable oil. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper (total).

3. Oil grill rack. Grill fish, covered, turning once, until just cooked through, about 8-10 minutes.

4. Serve fish drizzled with some chimichurri sauce; serve remaining sauce on the side.

This was delicious. I am super picky about fish. I love the mild taste and firm texture of the halibut. And, best of all, none of those tiny, gag-inducing bones. The chimichurri sauce was a great complement to the fish without overpowering it. I serve this with cous cous and sauteed zucchini, squash and yellow onion. (I sauteed them in olive oil with salt, pepper and a little lemon juice.) I think the sauce would be delicious on any number of things; chicken, veggies, steaks.

Because People Like to Say "Salsa"

We had friends over for dinner last night and I wanted to keep things simple. Now that the warmer weather has arrived, I expect to do more grilling. The best part of this recipe is that almost everything can be done ahead so you can enjoy your guests.

Grilled Chicken with Corn Salsa (from Bon Appetit)

For Chicken:
1/2 C dark beer
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp chopped seeded jalapeno
2 tsp fresh lime juice
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

For Salsa:
1 1/4 C frozen corn, thawed
1/4 C chopped red onion
1/4 C chopped red bell pepper
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 TBSP fresh lime juice
2 tsp chopped seeded jalapeno

To make salsa:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill. (Can be made 4 hours ahead)

To make chicken:
1. Combine all ingredients in a resealable bag. Coat chicken. Refrigerate 1-4 hours.

2. Barbecue on medium high heat until chicken is cooked through. (discard marinade) You can slice the cooked chicken diagonally and top with salsa to serve.

I always make extra salsa because it is so tasty and very good on chips. I served this with rice and black beans last night. You can also serve it in tortillas. A little guacamole and some smoky salsa complete the meal.