Chicken fajitas are a summer staple in our house. Throw together some tasty marinade, grill up chicken and vegetables and serve them together on warm tortillas. It’s the perfect summer meal: no indoor cooking, minimal dishes and maximum flavor.  Serve them on the deck with an  ice-cold margarita and you’re faced with pure perfection.

While tequila-lime marinade has been my go-to choice for all things Mexican-related, I decided to shake things up a bit last weekend and searched AllRecipces.com for a new chicken fajita marinade.   Success!  The lime juice provides a bit of tart sweetness, while the liquid smoke and cayenne pepper imparts a smokey zing.  I was in a rush and only let the chicken marinate for about an hour, but that didn’t seem to cause any problems.

I use a grill basket like this one for my grilled vegetables, so it’s just as easy as sauteing on the stove.   I don’t use an actual recipe;  chop up mushrooms, peppers and onions and toss them in either olive oil or Italian dressing and then season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Coat your basket with cooking spray and place on the grill during pre-heating.  Cooking times will vary, but 5-8 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes, will usually do it.

Chicken Fajita Marinade

1/4 cup lime juice
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. In a small bowl whisk together the lime juice, water, olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, salt, liquid smoke, cayenne and black pepper.
2. Pour marinade over meat and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Cook as desired.

I love summer cooking.  Marinate some meat, slice up some farm-fresh vegetables, throw them on the grill and dinner is ready.  My husband received The Grilling Bible from his sister for his recent birthday, and we’ve enjoying paging through this book marking recipes for future use.  It’s going to be a fun summer with lots of variety.

This recipe was originally for Lime Mustard chicken, but a and a last-minute substitution was necessary when I found there were only about 2 tablespoons of lime juice left in the refrigerator.  Confession:  I LOVE fresh citrus juice, but frequently resort to bottled lemon and lime juice because it is just so easy!

The chicken was tangy and flavorful with a nice little kick, courtesy of the ground red pepper.  We want to try it again, but it will have to get in line behind all of the other new recipes from The Grilling Bible!

Lemon Mustard Chicken Marinade
produces enough marinade for 4 butterflied chicken breasts

1/2 cup lemon juice
4 tbsp honey mustard*
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground red pepper

Whisk together all ingredients. Pour over chicken and marinate in the refrigerator for two hours.

*don’t have honey mustard? use 2 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp mustard

Grilled pineapple is amazing – just delicious!  If  you’ve never tried it you need to… really.  And the grilled pineapple is only half of this tasty meal.  The Asian-inspried marinade was a fun change of change of pace from our usual barbecue sauces and Mexican-inspired marinades.

I spotted these Chicken and Pineapple Skewers on Proceed With Caution and knew I just had to try them!  Since I only had thin-sliced chicken on hand (I buy chicken on sale,  trim and slice it thin before freezing), I opted to grill the breasts whole.  Served on a bed of brown rice and garnished with chopped green onion, this is quick and easy weeknight meal.  We’re adding it to our grilling rotation!

Asian Pineapple Chicken

2 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp low sodium tamari soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded or sliced thin
1/2 pound fresh pineapple, sliced into spears
1 tbsp agave nectar or honey

1.  In a large bowl, whisk together onions, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger. Add chicken and cover, marinating in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
2.  After preheating grill, grill chicken over medium-high direct heat until cooked through.  Baste  occasionally with marinade. (Food safety tip:  do not baste chicken during the final flip – you want to make sure everything is cooked properly.)
4.  When chicken is almost done, place pineapple on the grill over medium direct heat. Flip after 4 minutes.  After grilling the other side for 4 minutes, remove and serve.

During the recent heat wave, I have not been feeling like eating much that is cooked – so when I got a craving for Indian food recently I had to figure out how I would be able to get the flavors I wanted without standing over a steaming stove for very long.  This curry chicken salad fit the bill perfectly – it does require some cooking, however it’s very refreshing as it is served chilled.  I brought it to a cook out over the weekend, and it was quite a hit!  It tastes wonderful atop a bed of mixed greens, or in a sandwich, or even just on its own. 

Curry Chicken Salad – from Simplyrecipes.com, posted by Elise

Instructions

Place oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Sprinkle salt over the chicken as it cooks; saute just until cooked through entirely – about 5 minutes.  Make sure no pink remains!  Remove chicken from the skillet.  Add the onions to the skillet and saute until beginning to turn translucent.  Sprinkle the curry powder over the onion and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.  If the powder sticks to the bottom, or the mixture is too dry, you may add another tablespoon or two of olive oil.  Add raisins and cook for another minute.  At this point remove from the heat, and stir in the mayonnaise.  Stir the chicken into the onion and raisin mixture, and chill until completely cooled.  When about to serve the chicken salad, mix in the apple, cilantro and green onions.

A few days late for Irish cooking, I know – but my husband and I were looking for a way to use up our leftover cabbage from our traditional corned beef dinner last week and decided to experiment.  Colcannon is an Irish dish, traditionally served on Halloween, made with potatoes and cabbage or kale.  (There is even a song written about it!)  Since it incorporates cabbage and we had all the rest of the ingredients, we decided to give it a whirl.  I made it on a weeknight after work – it came together very easily.   While I am not a big fan of cabbage typically, this recipe was a great way to get in a full serving or two of veggies – it was more like eating loaded mashed potatoes than anything else.  I used this recipe for my main inspiration – my main modifications included substituting leek for the scallions, focusing more on the bacon (as this was our dinner entree), and cutting down a bit on the butter.  It was fabulous!

  Ingredients

  2 pounds cabbage, shredded

  2 cups water

  4 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped

  2 cups milk

  1 cup chopped leek

  Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste

  1/4 cup butter, melted

  12oz package of bacon, chopped and cooked

Directions:  Place the cabbage and the water into a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high head.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until cabbage is tender.  Drain the cabbage, reserving the cooking liquid.  Put the cooking liquid back in the pot, and add the potatoes and enough water to cover.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  In the meantime, put the leeks and milk into a small pot and bring to a boil, then turn off heat and let sit.  When the potatoes have finished cooking, drain them and return them to the pan.  Mash the potatoes, and then add the milk/leek mixture to the pot, mixing well.  Add the cabbage and the bacon to the mixture and combine well.  Drizzle with the melted butter, and add salt and pepper to taste.

As strange as it sounds, I was not quite ready for the weather to warm up – don’t get me wrong, the more than 70 inches of snow we had this winter I was more than happy to see melting away, but I really love soup season and will be sorry to see it go.  There are few meals I enjoy more than a bowl of warm soup when it’s cold outside.  The warmth and sunshine today on the 1st official day of spring made me realize that it’s about time to make one last stew before our soup crocks go into hibernation for the summer.  This recipe was very easy to make and was quite hearty.  I omitted half the salt the original recipe calls for and I still thought it could have used even less – I also changed the proportion of sausage to mushrooms a bit to weight it more towards the meat.  Accompanied by a piece of toasted garlic bread, it was a fabulous farewell to cold weather.  While I will miss soup season, I am looking forward to busting out my ice cream maker for the summer!

Sausage and Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

Directions:  In a large pot, brown the sausages until they are completely cooked through (about 10 minutes), then remove from the pan and cool.  Add the olive oil to the pan, and saute the onion and garlic until the onions are translucent – about 5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and saute for another 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are golden brown.  Add the chicken broth, thyme and pepper flakes, 1 tsp dried parsley and the salt to the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.  In the meantime, slice the sausage into 1/8 inch thick slices.  Add the sausage to the soup, and the angel hair pasta.  Let cook for about 3-4 minutes or until pasta is cooked.    Enjoy!

During the torrential rainstorm today, I drove 3 hrs each way to a job interview.  Consequentially I spent most of the day looking like a drowned rat in a business suit.  When I got home (aside from changing into my PJs and drying my hair) all I wanted was some comfort food and a nap.  We had lots of leftover chicken on hand and some leeks, so I decided to make a chicken pot pie.  This recipe caught my eye because it appeared fairly straightforward.  I made a few modifications, mostly because I didn’t have tarragon or grainy mustard (and as I was in my PJs, could not really go out to procure tarragon or grainy mustard…) and I also used skim milk because we didn’t have whole milk in the house.  It was a great way to end a very long and damp day.

Ingredients:

12 oz cooked chicken (I used a combination of boneless skinless chicken breast and thighs)

2 tablespoons butter

1 leek, sliced lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch strips

1 onion, diced

1 tablespoon mustard (I used dijon)

1/4 cup flour

1 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon reserved skim milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried marjoram

Salt & pepper to taste

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg

Directions:

Melt the butter in a deep skillet over medium heat.  Saute the leek and onion until the onion becomes translucent – about 4-5 mins.  Add the mustard and the flour.  Cook for about 1-2 minutes stirring constantly.  Add the chicken broth, 3/4 cup skim milk and cream.  Cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken.  Add the chicken and spices to the skillet and mix well.  Let the mixture cool.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place into a deep pie dish.  Roll the pastry out to a size able to cover the pie dish and press it over top, sealing it to the dish.  I used the extra bits of pastry dough to decorate the top.  Beat the egg and tablespoon of milk together and brush over top of the pastry crust before baking.  Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the crust becomes golden brown and puffy.

The last time we grilled, I wanted to do something other than the usual BBQ sauce. A Mexican inspired marinade sounded good: tequila, lime, cilantro… something along those lines. A quick search of allrecipes.com produced this recipe for Tequila Lime Chicken.

The original recipe includes instructions for baking the chicken, and for an accompanying Mexi-Ranch dressing. I was only interested in the marinade. Based upon recommendations of reviewers and my personal tastes, I changed a few of the proportions. Since it is Tequila Lime Chicken, I increased the amount of tequila to 1 teaspoon, and will probably add more next time. The recipe produced an ample amount of marinade and would easily work for more than the suggested four chicken breast halves.

The chicken was delicious and tender! It had a tangy, smokey flavor that went very well with the cilantro lime rice I made that night. The leftover chicken was delicious on it’s own and on grilled pizza. This marinade will be added to our regular grilling rotation this summer!

Tequila Lime Chicken

1 cup water
1/3 cup Teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp liquid smoke flavoring
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp tequila
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1. Combine all ingredients, except chicken, in non-reactive bowl. Mix well.
2. Add chicken and turn to coat.
3. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
4. Grill chicken.

Monday night marked our first grilled meal of the year! My husband was quite excited to pull the cover off and fire up the grill. With the unseasonable warm weather we’ve been having, it felt just like summer!

A local grocery store chain sells gourmet burger patties during the summer months. These consist of a relatively lean ground beef combine with various mix-ins. Standard burgers include ones with Italian spices, pepper, mushrooms and cheese? the list goes on. My husband and I planned to serve these for a birthday celebration last summer, but my jaw dropped when I saw the price. I figured that they couldn’t be too hard to make.

Since I hadn’t had much luck forming burgers by hand (mine crumbled too easily), I scoured local stores in search of a burger press. After striking out there, I sprung for a pricey one from Amazon, and still came out ahead. That thing paid for itself in one weekend! If you?re looking for a burger press, I am really happy with this one. I haven?t had any of the problems that other viewers refer to. I like that the press is non-stick (lined with silicone) and can be easily disassembled and thrown in the dishwasher for easy cleaning.

Mixing vegetables, spices and cheese into burgers add a fun kick to this summer staple. I use ground turkey and ground beef interchangeably, although this time I used 93% lean ground turkey. I typically just eyeball the mix-in ingredients, but I measured this time so that I could provide details here. In the past I have used garlic powder, but I found that the freshly minced garlic made quite a difference. I served these burgers topped with sharp cheddar cheese and sauteed mushrooms.

Making these burgers also gave me the opportunity to use my newest kitchen gadget: a digital food scale. While it?s not a necessity (I made burgers for a year without one), it does make it easier to divide the meat into uniform portions.

Since burger making is rather messy, I frequently make a large batch using two packages or meat and then freeze the extras. When freezing the burgers, I separate them with slices of wax paper, wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag

Gourmet Burgers

1 package (1.25-1.33 lbs) ground turkey – I used 93% lean
1/2 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Mix well to combine.
3. Divide into 5-6 equal portions and shape into burger patties.
4. Grill or freeze.

When I think of classic chicken dishes, Chicken Cordon Bleu usually comes to mind – although I remember the one my mother used to make being dried out, and the ones I get in restaurants being very greasy. I found this chicken cordon bleu recipe a while back and decided to give it a whirl because it came out of one of my favorite cooking publications (Cooking Light) and because I was trying to shake up my recipe roster a bit. It was really great – the center stayed moist and tender, and much like any other Cooking Light recipe it’s not (that) bad for you. It’s fancy enough to serve to company, and easy enough to make for dinner just because it’s Tuesday. Plus, my husband loved it – what guy wouldn’t love meat wrapped in meat?! The only modification I made was to use pre-seasoned bread crumbs, because that’s what I happened to have on hand.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 5 teaspoons butter, melted
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup dry Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 thin slices prosciutto (about 2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350?.

Place broth in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave at high 15 seconds or until warm. Stir in butter and garlic. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and paprika in a medium shallow bowl; set aside.

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound each to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, oregano, and pepper. Top each breast half with 1 slice of prosciutto and 1 tablespoon mozzarella. Roll up each breast half jelly-roll fashion. Dip each roll in chicken broth mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place rolls, seam side down, in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour remaining broth mixture over chicken. Bake at 350? for 28 minutes or until juices run clear and tops are golden.