Grilled Chicken Caprese

We had Deb and Al over for dinner on Saturday night.  I didn’t know what to make, but as it got closer, inspiration just took off (well, thanks, of course, to Pinterest).  First, I started by searching for a recipe that was healthy, with fresh ingredients.  With our recent trip to Europe, and especially to Italy, and it being summer, this seemed the right way to go.  Immediately, recipes popped up saying caprese and I was salivating.  With our renewed love of tomatoes, basil, garlic and mozzarella, I came across this and new it was the perfect recipe!  It looks so “gourmet”, yet it is soooooooo simple!  I made a homemade pesto, used fresh mozzarella, the rain clouds cleared so I could grill out, and we had a perfect meal.  Catherine helped me with the meal prep, and we served with corn on the cob, rice pilaf, tomato garlic crustinis and sangria.  This is definitely a summer meal I want to make over and over! 

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 ½ cups zesty Italian salad dressing
• ¼  cup balsamic vinegar + a few tablespoons to drizzle later
• 6 Tbsp. pesto
• 2-3 ripe tomatoes, sliced
• 12 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Put chicken breasts into a large ziploc bag, pour in the Italian dressing and balsamic vinegar, and seal the bag, give everything a squish together and marinate in the fridge for a few hours.
2. Heat up grill to medium-high; grill the marinated chicken for about 6 minutes on each side (depending on the thickness of your chicken).
3. When the chicken is cooked almost all the way through, add a tablespoon of pesto onto each breast, followed by 1-2 slices of tomatoes, and 2 slices of mozzarella.
4. Reduce heat on the grill to low, close the lid and let them cook for another 4-5 minutes or until the cheese has melted a bit.
5. Drizzle the top of cheesy chicken with balsamic and remove from the grill.

The chicken, hot off the grill, before adding the drizzle of balsamic

Adapted from First Home Love Life Blog

Sriracha-Glazed Grilled Chicken

The kids are home!  While they were away, I spent my nights surfing Pinterest to find things to cook once they came home.  I found this recipe that had the key ingredient of sriracha, which I have wanted to use.  This was a great recipe that I could put the sriracha on some of the chicken, but leave some of it plain, for those who didn’t want the spice (---- > Jim lol).  I ended up marinating it overnight and it was so tender and flavorful.  We made homemade rice pilaf to go with it, and it was a scrumptious meal!

• 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ¼ cup peanut oil
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
• 2 tsp. ground ginger or finely minced fresh ginger root
• 3 Tbsp lime juice
  (I used the juice of one lime)
   
• 1-2 Tbsp. Sriracha Rooster Sauce
  (the sriracha is mixed into the remaining marinade used to brush on as you cook the chicken)

DIRECTIONS

1. Put chicken pieces and HALF the mixed marinade into a plastic bag.
   The original recipe calls to cut the chicken breasts into about 2” square chunks; however, I kept the chicken breasts whole.
2. Add the oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and lime juice to the plastic bag to make the marinade.
3. Marinate the chicken 6-8 hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator, turning a few times if you're home.
4. When you're ready to cook, heat the grill to a medium-high temperature.
5. Take the chicken out of the plastic bag and transfer to a plate.
6. Pour remaining marinade from the bag into a small bowl.
7. Mix the 1-2 tablespoons of sriracha sauce into the bowl of reserved marinade to make the glaze.
8. Put chicken breasts or kabobs on the grill and brush generously with the sriracha glaze.
9. Turn chicken about every 4 minutes and brush with glaze each time, cooking the kabobs until the chicken is nicely browned and firm (but not hard) to the touch (actual cooking time will depend on the thickness of the chicken pieces and how hot your grill is, but estimated time is about 15-18 minutes).

Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Creamy Avocado Pasta with Chili Lime Chicken

This was the winter of all winters with record-breaking cold and snow.  But, spring has finally come!  (Although we still have a last, little mound of snow that is only days away from being gone.)

I have done some cooking here and there over the winter, mostly making tried and true meals just to put something on the dinner table.  Part of my lack of inspiration was because the winter was just brutal, and the other part was because I miss my partner in cooking.  But, alas, with our first 70 degree day in almost 6 months, and Catherine coming home in less than a month, I broke out the grill and got on Pinterest to find out what I could make with the chicken and avocados I bought a few days ago.  Most of the recipes I found had to do with chicken avocado burritos.  Of course, that would be totally fine by me, but I knew I needed something my boys would eat.  After some scrolling, I came across this.  Holy yumilicious this was good!  Timmy loved the chicken, Jimmy loved the pasta, and I loved it all.  I can’t wait for Catherine to come home so she can try it!
(Don't be intimidated by how long this looks... it's not complicated at all and doesn't take as much time as you may think looking at this) 

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 recipe Chili Lime Chicken (see below for Chili Lime Rub)
• 16 oz. fettuccine/spaghetti, cooked al dente
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup corn kernels (or 1 ear of sweet corn)
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
  Optional:
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
• Hot sauce to taste

Chili Lime Rub

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• ½ tsp. chipotle chili powder *
• ½ tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. smoked paprika
• ½ tsp. onion powder
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ¾ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
• Lime zest from 1 lime* 

*  Adaptations:  I didn’t have chipotle chili powder, so I just omitted and I didn’t feel like zesting a lime so I just left it out.

DIRECTIONS - To make Chili Lime Chicken...

1. In a small bowl, whisk chili lime rub ingredients together.
2. Place chicken breasts in a gallon-sized zip lock baggie and pour chili lime rub over, mixing evenly all over chicken breasts.
3. Time permitting, allow chicken to sit for 30 minutes at room temperature or refrigerate up to 8 hours then bring to room temperature for before cooking (the longer it marinates, the more flavorful it will be.
   (I only had time for 30 minutes, and I felt like it was nicely flavored!)
4. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Once very hot, add chicken and cook, undisturbed for 3-5 minutes, or until nicely browned (or blackened if you prefer) on one side. Turn chicken over, cover, and reduce heat to medium.  Cook the chicken for approximately 5-7 more minutes (depending on thickness of chicken), or until it is cooked through.
   (Wanting to christen the grill for the first time this Spring, I used the grill versus the skillet for the chicken)
5. Remove to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes before slicing – don't slice until ready to serve.
6. Garnish with extra fresh lime juice if desired.
7. Make Creamy Avocado Sauce

Creamy Avocado Sauce

• 1 cup sour cream (may substitute Greek yogurt)
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 avocados, peeled and pitted
• 1-2 jalapenos, seeded, deveined and roughly chopped*
• ¼ cup packed cilantro
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• ½ tsp. cumin
• ¼ tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice

 *  Adaptations:  I didn’t have jalapenos, so I just omitted them.

DIRECTIONS - To make Creamy Avocado Sauce...

• Add all of the Creamy Avocado Sauce ingredients to your blender and puree/liquefy until smooth.

DIRECTIONS - To put together...

1. In the same skillet you cooked your chicken in (or a fresh one if grilled the chicken), heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat (you can use remaining oil from chicken if there's enough). Add red bell peppers, corn and garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes, or until red peppers are crisp-tender.
   (If using, add diced tomatoes in green chilies and heat through.)
2. Add cooked pasta followed by Creamy Avocado Sauce and stir to combine.  Heat through.
3. Taste and add any additional salt, pepper, hot sauce to taste.
4. Slice chicken and serve on top of pasta, garnishing individual servings with optional toppings of cheese, green onions and fresh lime juice.
   
   Refrigerate leftover pasta for up to 5 days (the lime juice will keep the sauce from discoloring)

Adapted from Carlsbad Cravings’ Blog

http://www.carlsbadcravings.com/purpose-chili-lime-chicken-rub-marinade-recipe/

http://www.carlsbadcravings.com/creamy-baja-avocado-pasta-chili-lime-chicken/