A Lady’s Love Letter to Grilling

When I was in Target recently, I saw a Grill King apron, and I got a little mad because I didn’t see a Grill Queen version nearby. (Thankfully, Zazzle has my back!) I know there are  other lady grillers out there, but like Rodney Dangerfield, it seems like we don’t get no respect. (Except for the people coming back for seconds of what we’re cooking… maybe that’s not such a big gripe after all!)

How did I become a grillnista? And why? I have fond memories of cookouts as a child, the sight of the smoke, the smoky smell in the air, the smoky taste imparted to everything coming off of the grill. This was at relatives’ houses, as my father wasn’t a big griller, but I guess that made it even more of a big deal at my house when the little grill was pulled out, along with a sack of charcoal. It a highlight of the summer to eat outside at my house, dining on burgers lovingly coated with barbecue sauce.

As an adult, I’d say I enjoy grilling because:

• It adds another dimension of flavor to everything. Compare baked chicken to grilled chicken, or a burger made on the stove vs. one tattooed with parallel lines from the grill. The grill literally and figuratively leaves its mark on the food that arrives on your plate. It becomes your sous-chef.
• I like the fast-paced nature of grilling. Having to pay attention to the progress of the food, moving it from a hot zone to a cooler zone to keep it from getting overcooked, searing sides long enough that they get crisp over the flames but not burned… And as Steve Raichlen always alludes to, there is a sense of performance art to it as well. I guess it appeals to the part of me that always wanted to be a DJ, in the art of observation and manipulation required to be a success.
• As someone who is trying to bring healthier food to my family, I like that the grill enables me to make delicious meals without the use of a lot of fat (as long as you’re choosing lean meats, of course).
• It also doesn’t hurt that having a grill outside during the summer beats being holed up in a kitchen, with the warm weather, stove and oven conspiring to create a sauna. Cooking al fresco is a special treat for me when the weather allows.

Salute to all the grillers out there! And if you are a fellow grill queen, I send a special wave of my grill fork to you and ask that you speak a little on what has lured you to cook over open flames.

Product Review: McCormick Bruschetta Chicken Spice Blend

One fun (nosy?) thing that I like to do from time to time is to walk the aisles of grocery stores to see what new products are available, or what things I have never noticed before. A perfect place to do this is at the Walmart superstore.

I finally had enough time to really scope out the aisles, rather than zero in on a particular item, jewel thief style, to get in and out as fast as I could before going into work. Being able to browse at my own leisure, I saw a lot of interesting items.

One was this item, pictured, a packet of Italian blend spices to use on  chicken and tomatoes, to be roasted and served with pasta. I’m not sure if it was the mention of “all natural” that drew me in, (all of the ingredients have names I can pronounce) or the name conjuring up the taste of bruschetta in my mouth, but either way, this packet went home with me, for well under $2.

The recipe calls for 1 lb. of chicken, 1/3 cup of oil, 10 plum tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and pasta. I opted against the pasta when I used the packet yesterday, pairing a double measure of chicken and tomatoes with couscous instead. (I figured adding more meat and tomatoes would make better use of the substantial amount of oil called for, and provide more leftovers!)

Here’s what I did:

• Cut the chicken breast into strips, as requested on the packaging. (Or you could use raw chicken tenders.) Cut the tomatoes into lengthwise quarters, also as originally requested. Placed the chicken and tomatoes in separate 13×9 baking pans, sprayed with cooking spray.
• Mixed the seasoning with the oil, and added the vinegar at this time. (The package says to hold the vinegar to the end, when you would’ve been mixing everything with the pasta, along with 3 tablespoons of the spice mixture, but I thought using the vinegar upfront couldn’t hurt.)
• Brushed the spice mixture over the chicken and tomatoes, and then topped with a bit of kosher salt–the mix didn’t have much salt in it. I suppose that’s a good thing, though, as spice blends are often overly salty.
• Baked the pans in a 425-degree oven until the chicken was done, per package instructions. Let the pans cool, then attempted to dice the tomatoes as requested. But I ended up smashing the tomatoes a bit with a meat tenderizer before cutting, to avoid a juicy mess as much as possible.
• Added the chicken and tomatoes over top of couscous cooked in the microwave. (I went with a half-cup of couscous for myself, and served the dish with sauteed spinach.)

Notes: I think McCormick’s intended recipe would be good as well, as roasting the tomatoes and mixing with pasta would yield a nice, fresh pasta sauce. They also suggested topping with parmesan, which you can never go wrong with doing!

Here are some other ideas I had:

• If going in pasta mode: top with some slivered fresh basil.
• If going in couscous mode: try adding golden raisins and olives to add another sweet/savory dimension.
• I’d consider grilling the chicken, but I’d let it sit in some of the spice mixture for a bit, as a marinade. I might use a bit more balsamic (or even red wine vinegar) for a marinade.

A Flavorful Evening

Yesterday I went to a baby shower for  an in-law relative who lives four hours away. As we chose seats to settle into for the festivities, the smell of lighter fluid and pungent spices filed the air, as more guests trickled in. Grilled chicken was on the menu.

My family and I chatted amongst ourselves, watched the children play,  reminisced on the old music playing, and took in the new tunes with interest. And, of course, we kept inhaling the delightful spicy chicken smell.

Presents were exchanged, a prayer was said, and then it was time to eat. We were treated to chicken leg quarters that were blackened with a crust of spices, and fried plantains and attieke, a West African couscous made of cassava, were also on the menu. I savored every bit of the chicken and  plantains that I had.

We spent the night with relatives a couple of hours closer to home and debated getting more food for a post-dinner, but when we thought about it, we realized we weren’t really hungry enough for a full-blown meal. I ate a couple of oranges from the refrigerator instead. It has been a while since I had had oranges, and their sweet juciness was a revelation.

It was a long day of hastily eaten meals in the first half, but the second half of the day was punctuated with meals that reminded me of the importance of choosing simple foods with big flavors, something that seems to be key to satisfying meals.

Kebabs: 101 and Cooking Challenge

I recently resumed my sojourn through all the episodes of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations by watching the Berlin episode. I expected to see footage of beer, sausages, and quirky art explorations, but I wasn’t prepared to see a segment on Turkish food.

I learned from the episode that there has been a sizable Turkish population in Germany for decades. After showing locals play a Turkish domino game in a men’s club, there was a lengthy homage to kebabs.

I learned from the episode and some Internet sleuthing that there are three classes of kebabs (also spelled “kabobs” or “kebobs”): kebabs on a  skewer, called shish kebabs (“shish” means “skewer”), doner kebab, which is sliced meat, and kebabs made of ground meat fashioned into sausage shapes; they can be grilled off or on a skewer, or sauteed in a pan. The meat in the various kinds of kebabs can be worked over with a wet marinade or a tantalizing combo of dry spices. (Interesting trivia: Wikipedia spins a fable of shish kebabs being created by Persian soldiers who roasted meat on their swords, but this 1995 Ocala Star-Banner article disagrees–and provides some kebab recipes, to boot.)

I am a big proponent of grilling, and what better time of year to make kebabs than now?

Here are some kebabs I’ve made in the past. Not a lengthy list:

• Chicken breast or lean beef (marinated in a Mediterranean herb blend, a little olive oil and red wine vinegar), onions and red and green peppers
• This kofta kebab recipe, with lean ground beef. It was delicious, and it comes with a recipe for tzatziki sauce, the cucumber-based sauce that often comes with Greek food.

But I have a set of skewers, and I’m willing to learn and experiment. This inspires me to set up another cooking challenge for myself: a kebab recipe a week this summer. Check this space to see what’s up on the menu! (And if you decide to take up the challenge on your own, let me know what you come up with!)

Chicken Salad With Steamed Southwestern Veggies

I like having a repertoire of items that are quick and easy to put together, taste delicious, and are healthy. This salad meets all three of those requirements. Plus, somehow or other I seem to make a lot of Southwest-inspired items, so I’m glad to have another tasty option!

Recipe

• 1 serving Oscar Mayer DeliFresh Southwestern Chicken Breast
• 1 serving Pictsweet Steamables Seasoned Southwest Vegetables With Corn and Black Beans and Authentic Mexican Seasoning
• 1 oz. reduced fat cheese (I went with a Mexican blend, but cheddar would work, too.)

Add these ingredients on top of a bed of rice, and you’re good to go!

Notes: The vegetables are pretty flavorful, but if you’d like to add a dressing, I’d suggest light ranch, or salsa–a standard salsa, or sweet onion (Walmart makes one that I like.) You could eat the salad with your favorite baked snack chips or pretzels.

Spaghetti With Chicken and Tuscan Vegetables

I am not the biggest pasta eater in the world, but I was looking for a change of pace with meals for this week. This recipe was inspired by a sale on the Tuscan vegetables at my supermarket.

Recipe

• Chicken breast tenders (I grilled a 2.5-oz bag of raw tenders, but I intended to have leftovers for other uses. You should count on having 3-4 oz of chicken for each pasta serving. Also, rather than grill your own chicken, you could buy a package or two of Italian flavor precooked, sliced chicken breast.)
• 1/2 box of spaghetti (I used whole wheat thin spaghetti, but go with your favorite.)
• 3 boxes of Pictsweet Tuscan Vegetable Medley (or 2 boxes of Bird’s Eye Tuscan Vegetables in Herbed Tomato Sauce)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce per serving (This will be needed for the Pictsweet vegetables, but not necessarily for the Bird’s Eye brand vegetables, as the Bird’s Eye ones are prepared in a tomato sauce.)

Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Grill or heat through the chicken. Heat each individual package of vegetables in the microwave according to package instructions.

Serve 1/2 cup of pasta with 3-4 oz. of chicken. Add a serving of vegetables, and then your pasta sauce, if you’re using it. Mix well.

Notes: I marinated the chicken breast for a few hours in a mixture of salt, pepper, oregano, minced garlic, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Rather than go with a tomato sauce for the pasta, you could experiment with garlic and olive oil instead. You could also top this dish with cheese, if you’d like–parmesan or mozzarella. Another possible addition to this meal: a salad or a side of spinach or broccoli rabe sautéed with garlic and olive oil.

Barbecue Chicken Wrap

I’ve found myself wanting to make a lot of wrap sandwiches lately, maybe because they’re portable for me to carry and enjoy outside in the lovely spring weather. Here’s what I’m eating for lunch today.

Recipe
Barbecue chicken (I went with one grilled boneless, skinless chicken thigh diced, because I had them on hand, but you could pick up heat-and-eat pulled barbecue chicken from the store.

1/3 cup mashed sweet potato, baked or canned and drained

1 burrito-sized tortilla

Spread the sweet potato on the tortilla.  Top worth the chicken. Roll away!

Notes: If I had them on hand, I’d also add baby spinach leaves and thinly sliced red onion. You could also add an additional 1 or 2T of barbecue sauce for additional tangy goodness.

Chicken Mango Jalapeno Burrito

I keep saying that I need to go to the market and just walk down the aisles and check out everything that’s in there, to find new, interesting items. I got another good reminder of my need to do that this weekend. I knew I wanted to buy some andouille to pair with red beans and rice, but I took a moment to see what other kinds of sausage were available at my local market, and I found this mango jalapeno chicken sausage:

It sounded really interesting and delicious… and the $3 off coupon that was attached to the packaging didn’t hurt, either. So into my shopping cart it went.

I was thinking I’d make burritos with it, because I knew I had a bunch of tortillas and rice at home to use up. And that’s what I did.

Recipe (1 serving)

• 1/2 Aidells Spicy Mango With Jalapeno chicken sausage (I grilled the sausages, but you could heat them on the stove or in the oven instead.)
• 1 burrito-sized tortilla
• 1/3 cup of rice/rice and beans (Use any leftover rice you have–brown rice, white rice. I used some leftover rice and pigeon peas.)
• 1/2 oz. reduced fat cheddar
• Grilled or sautéed peppers and/or onions, optional

Dice your half of sausage. Heat through your rice, if it’s left over from another day. Place the tortilla on a plate and microwave for 25 seconds.

Top the tortilla with the rice, then the sausage, peppers and/or onion if adding, and the cheese. Roll it up!

Here’s the “exciting” pic of the finished burrito:

Notes: I wanted to try the sausage, but you could absolutely adapt this for any meat leftovers you have, in addition to the rice leftovers. I wanted to taste the sausage in this, but you could add a little salsa if you wanted. Peach mango might be nice, to complement the flavors in the sausage.

This recipe is for one burrito, but I made a bunch of these at one time: 2 for my husband’s meal, one for me (with a salad of lettuce, tomato, and light ranch dressing). If you want to make more than one at once, heat a bunch of rice at once. I still chopped the sausages half a sausage at a time, though, to keep tabs on portions. I heated the tortillas one at a time, and measured the cheese for each burrito separately.

Crispy Baked Chicken

If you think it’s hard to look at this picture, try smelling it while it’s baking!

Let’s be real: One of the reasons we love fried chicken is for the crispy skin. I know that’s my favorite part of the experience, saving that rich, crunchy sheet for the last flavorful bite. But fried chicken is my kryptonite, so I don’t have it that often. That doesn’t mean I can’t still get that crispy mouthfeel for a fraction of the calories, though.

How? By baking the chicken with a little bit of oil. I’ve never been one to enjoy the “oven fried” fried chicken clones, and I never found a way to make a decent one myself. But a well-seasoned piece of roasted chicken that’s been cooked long enough to yield a crispy coat of skin works just fine for me.

Before Weight Watchers, I’d pour a good amount of oil, probably 1/3 to 1/2 cup of oil, into a bowl for maybe 8 pieces of chicken, add spices (a mix of salt, pepper and garlic, or just seasoned salt), and brush the mixture onto the chicken. But here’s what I did this weekend, riffing on a Latin spice recipe from SkinnyTaste.com. (My recipe is for 12 pieces, for the hungry men in my family, but feel free to adjust everything to make a smaller quantity.)

• 12 pieces of chicken (I went with drumsticks and thighs, but wings would work, too.)
• 3 Badia Tropical Sazon packets (Approximately 1 1/2 pack for each side of the 12 pieces of chicken. I went with Badia to avoid the MSG in Goya Sazon. The kind of Badia Sazon I got didn’t have annato in it, to give the chicken a nice red-orange color, but you might be lucky.)
• Adobo spice powder to taste
• Oregano to taste
• Paprika (I added it to compensate for the color that I was missing with my annato-less Sazon, but I think I’ll pick up annato in the future, for until I run out of the Sazon packets I have.)
• 1/2 cup vinegar (I went with apple cider, but I’d also try red wine vinegar. The original recipe recommended white vinegar, but I opted not to use it because I thought the flavor might be too harsh.)
• 2T oil (I used canola.)

Sprinkle the spices on one side of the chicken parts, then turn the pieces over and sprinkle the other side, topping with the paprika last. Put the chicken into a plastic ziploc bag.

Mix the oil into the vinegar, and dump the mixture into the bag. Close the bag and shake everything up; place the bag in the refrigerator to marinate. (I let it go for about 30 minutes, but I’m sure you’d be fine to go for a few hours or overnight if you wanted.)

Place the chicken pieces in baking pans, and roast it at 350 degrees until it’s cooked through and the skin is crisp.

I can’t wait to try this recipe again with the soul seasoning I have in the house! (For that go-round, the soul seasoning will be the only spice I use.)

It All Started With Chicken and Salsa

While tooling around on Pinterest, I found a recipe for slow cooker cilantro lime chicken, originally from the Pip & Ebby Web site. It sounded like an easy, flavorful recipe, and so I decided to try it out.

But I realized I didn’t have lime juice or cilantro, so I remixed the recipe as follows:

• 6 chicken breast halves
• 24-oz jar of salsa
• 1 small onion, sliced
• Chili powder to taste
• Garlic powder to taste
• Cumin to taste

I placed the chicken and the salsa in the slow cooker and added the onion and spices after the fact, but next time I think I’ll add the chicken and onion first and mix the spices into the salsa before pouring it on top of the chicken. In any event, I cooked it on low for 7 hours.

Once the chicken was ready, I deviated from the recipe again by shredding the chicken, taking the breasts out of the sauce and storing the sauce separately.

And this is where the fun starts. I have 10 ideas for using up the savory chicken you get from this recipe:

1. Eat it over rice, mixed with some of the sauce.
2. Add it to a fat-free tortilla for a burrito. With the chicken you could add rice, fat-free refried beans, or veggies. You could also smear the tortilla with a tablespoon or 2 of guacamole (or reduced fat guacamole, made with avocado and green peas), queso or fat-free sour cream (or fat-free Greek yogurt) as a condiment.
3. Use it for tacos. Hard shell or soft, with or without reduced fat cheese and/or lettuce and tomato.
4. As a salad. Eat 3 oz. of the chicken with 1 oz. of reduced fat cheddar and additional salsa and guacamole/sour cream. Top with baked tortilla chips, or eat them on the side.
5. Tortilla soup. Pour a cup of chicken broth into a bowl, add a bit of the reserved sauce from the chicken (approximately 1/8 of a cup). Add 2-3 ounces of chicken, and some finely diced red onion (optional). Crumble in baked tortilla chips (about 1/2 ounce) . Heat through in the microwave. Mix in reduced fat cheddar if you’d like.
6. Nachos. Top baked tortillas with 3 oz. of the chicken, and top that combination with queso sauce and guacamole, sour cream and/or salsa.
7. Quesadillas. Add the chicken and some reduced-fat cheddar (1/2 to 1 oz.) to one half of a fat-free tortilla. Fold the tortilla in half, and heat both sides on a grill or in a nonstick pan sprayed with cooking spray until crisp. Cut into wedges.
8. Baked flautas. Roll the chicken up in small tortillas (I think flour would probably work best, but go with corn if you have them), and place them in a baking dish. Spray with cooking spray. Heat in a 400-degree oven until crisp.
9. Enchiladas. Heat the reserved sauce, and dip corn tortillas in it. Add some of the chicken to each tortilla; roll up the tortillas and place them in a baking dish. Top with any remaining sauce, and reduced fat cheddar. Bake in a 350 oven until everything is heated through and the cheese is melted.
10. Lasagna. Spread half a 24-oz jar of salsa in the bottom of a 13×9 baking pan. Mix a container of fat-free ricotta cheese with taco seasoning (or salt, garlic, cumin and chili powders to taste) and 4 ounces of cheddar cheese. Top the sauce in the pan with 3 uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles. Add half of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles; top with the chicken. Add another layer of 3 lasagna noodles, then cheese mixture and chicken. Top with three more noodles, the remaining sauce, and them 4 more ounces of cheddar. Bake in a 350-degree oven until the noodles are tender, approximately 35-40 minutes.

If you’ve read through my blog, you probably notice that I talk about Mexican food a lot. There’s just something about the spices that I love! And it doesn’t hurt that I’m a big fan of cilantro, either. I will enjoy these recipes; I hope you do, too!

Did I miss any of your favorites? What do you do with Mexican-spiced chicken? Thanks for sharing!