Spiced Yogurt Marinated Chicken

Spiced Yogurt Marinated Chicken

This recipe comes from a blog called "Once Upon a Chef".  I made a few changes.  I used boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins instead of chicken thighs. I added turmeric and I used reduced fat Greek yogurt (instead of full fat yogurt). I eliminated the olive oil from the marinade (I forgot it).  I also grilled my chicken indoors on my grill pan and did not make this into kebabs. I LOVE this chicken. I can't stop eating it.  It's good hot or cold.

SPICED YOGURT MARINATED CHICKEN

Adapted from "Once Upon a Chef"
Original recipe link is here: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/middle-eastern-chicken-kebabs.html

• 1/2 cup plain 2% Fage Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/16 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (reduce to 1/4 teaspoon if you don't like heat)
• finely grated lemon zest (from 1/2 of one lemon) 
• freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1/2 of one lemon)
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless raw chicken tenderloins

Place all ingredients (EXCEPT for the chicken) in a gallon size plastic bag with a zip closure; zip the bag closed.  Mash ingredients around with your hands to combine.  Add in the chicken tenderloins, zip bag closed, and mash around ingredients until all the chicken pieces are coated in the spiced yogurt.  Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, longer if desired (I allowed mine to marinate overnight).

This can be grilled indoors or outdoors. I grilled my chicken on my grill pan over medium to medium high heat on my stove top.  I start off with medium high heat but then reduce the temperature to medium after a few minutes so the outside does not brown too much before the inside is cooked through.  Flip once.  Cook until internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whole 30: Harvest Grilled Chicken

HARVEST GRILLED CHICKEN

I purchased "The Whole 30 Cookbook" at Sam's Club just before Christmas.  I tell myself I should not buy cookbooks since I find so many recipes on line and I seldom use my collection of cookbooks and magazines with recipes. This year, I am resolving to make lots of new recipes from the Whole 30 book and also a year's worth of issues of "Clean Eating Magazine" which I have been saving for years.

The other night I tried two new recipes from Whole 30 and they are both amazingly good.  First let me share about Harvest Grilled Chicken.

Harvest Grilled Chicken is actually just part of a recipe.  The recipe is actually for a salad called "Harvest Grilled Chicken Salad" but I just made the chicken.  Basically, you create a mixture of dried herbs, sprinkle it over chicken breasts, and grill it. I used my stove top grill pan (I love it!), but of course you could grill this outdoors,  use a grill such as a George Foreman grill, or cook it in a skillet.

Have you ever noticed how large chicken breasts are? I see many recipes that call for chicken breasts which are about five ounces each, but many times I purchase chicken breasts which weigh more than twice that.  What I have been doing is cutting the chicken breasts in half (I think the proper term would be to say I am "butterflying" the chicken breast... cutting it in half so that it opens up like a book and I end up with two thinner chicken breasts.  I hope that makes sense).  I used just one huge breast for this recipe and it weighed close to one pound.  Oh, another thing I like about cutting one large chicken breast into two thinner chicken breasts is that I find it easier to cook them through, as compared to thicker chicken breasts. 

Here is the spice mixture for the Harvest Grilled Chicken recipe.  I was surprised that this recipe actually had a bit of a spicy kick.  That must be from the chili powder.  Just sprinkle this spice blend on one pound of chicken breasts (on both sides of the chicken) and grill/cook as desired. The internal temperature you are looking for is 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

I am sure sometime soon I'll make this chicken with the salad as described in the remainder of the recipe.  It calls for Granny Smith apple, cucumber, dried cranberries, and a Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette.  That sounds right up my alley.  Of course, I would be inclined to add feta or blue cheese to this salad but the Whole 30 cookbook recipes are all dairy free.

I made this chicken to go along with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Glaze.  I'll share that recipe with you next. 

Turkey Pesto Burgers: 21 Day Fix Friendly

Turkey Pesto Burgers

Jennie-O Ground Turkey was on sale for $2.99 this past week.  I stocked up!  I did not plan my meals very well this week; instead I stocked up on items which were on sale.  Thankfully I came up with an idea for something I could make with a least one pound of ground turkey; this will make four meals for me and the recipe calls for just a few ingredients. I considered adding veggies into the burger mix, but decided to keep it simple.  The pesto I used is Kroger Brand "Private Select" Basil Pesto and it has a very wet consistency; I added in some quick or instant oats so that the burgers would hold together well.  The burgers did hold together well while grilling in my grill pan. I was surprised how the addition of oats really changed the texture of the burgers.  I would say it made the burgers very tender and, since I did not add in any grated or diced veggies, the texture was also very smooth. I decided to top my burger with some garlicky tomato sauce (Barilla brand Roasted Garlic Natural jarred tomato sauce) and a little grated mozzarella cheese.  I plan to make this meal again but next time I'll make up some zucchini noodles (zoodles).  I think these burgers would also be great on a bun.  I did not add any salt to my burgers but I think a few pinches of salt would have been good, so I did add a pinch of salt to the list of ingredients below. 

Turkey Pesto Burgers (Serves 4)

1 pound lean Jennie-O brand ground turkey, 93 percent lean
1/4 cup plain quick or instant oats
2 tablespoons prepared basil pesto
A pinch of salt

Directions

Mist a large skillet (or grill pan) with cooking spray and preheat over medium high heat.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Mix gently with hands to distribute the ingredients and shape into 4 equal patties, less than 1/2 inch think.  Add patties to preheated skillet (or grill pan), reduce heat to medium, and cook until bottoms are deep golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Flip and cook until patties are firm to the touch and cooked through (no pink remains), about 4 to 5 minutes more. 

If desired, serve with some warmed tomato based pasta sauce and a little mozzarella or Parmesan cheese.

Green Chile Turkey Burger

Green Chile Turkey Burgers:

Served Two Ways

It may come as no surprise to some that my family is not always keen about my healthy recipes.  I do have to say my husband has been impressed with my recent dedication to healthy eating and fitness.  The other day, he came snooping around in the kitchen and asked if I was making something special. I said I was making up these Green Chile Turkey Burgers (using up some leftover green chiles from a can) and I said he might like it.  I told him what was in the burgers and how I could top it for him and he agreed to give it a try. 

For HIS version, I toasted two slices of Italian bread, smeared the toast with a little light mayo, and topped the turkey burger with a slice of Swiss cheese, some Vidalia (sweet onion) slices, some romaine lettuce, and some pickled jalapeno peppers.  He gave this burger "two thumbs up!"  See, he might be coming around a bit to this healthy eating business.  I gave him a hard time and I said, "See, you've been missing out on a lot of good recipes!"

For MY version of the burger, I skipped the toast and cheese.  I had a little Vidalia onion, romaine lettuce, and pickled jalapenos.  I also put a dollop of low fat plain yogurt on my burger (but it's not in the photo) and it was a nice taste, temperature, and texture combination with the burger.  If you are a fan of tomatoes, some sliced tomatoes would be great on these burgers. I just had little grape tomatoes in the house so we did not have tomatoes on our burgers.

I did make a beef version of this burger not too long ago. Zach gave that recipe two thumbs up as well.  Here is the link to the beef version if that interests you:

http://kimscookingfrenzy.blogspot.com/2016/07/green-chile-burgers.html

Green Chile Turkey Burgers

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground turkey (93% lean)

1/2 teaspoon chili power

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons finely mined onion (I used vidalia sweet onion) 

2 to 3 tablespoons diced green chiles from a can (drained well in a fine mesh sieve) 

Directions

Mist a large skillet (or grill pan) with cooking spray and preheat over medium high heat.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Mix gently with hands to distribute the ingredients and shape into 4 equal patties, less than 1/2 inch think.  Add patties to preheated skillet (or grill pan), reduce heat to medium, and cook until bottoms are deep golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Flip and cook until patties are firm to the touch and cooked through (no pink remains), about 4 to 5 minutes more. 

Helpful Hint:  If you ever have left over diced green chiles from a can, don't let them go to waste.  Just place them in a plastic baggie and place them in the freezer for use in a future recipe.

Turkey Taco Burgers

Turkey Taco Burgers

A few weeks back, Jennie-O brand ground turkey was on sale for $2.99 per pound. I stocked up and put it in the freezer.  I bought some unseasoned lean turkey of course but also bought the Italian Seasoned and Taco Seasoned varieties. I've cooked and crumbled the Taco Seasoned turkey before and made tacos. Delicious, easy, and a nice change from beef tacos. 

Today I made some taco burgers. I opted to add in some finely diced bell peppers and onions. These burgers are highly seasoned without adding anything else.  They are so flavorful in fact that I think one could add in more unseasoned ground turkey to stretch the seasoned turkey even further.  Whatever the case may be, I enjoyed my turkey burger lunch today. I topped my burger with a dollop of plain low fat yogurt in place of sour cream and some sliced pickled jalapeños. Next time I'll add even more of those hot peppers!  These burgers would be great on a bun or topped with avocado slices or guacamole. Pepper jack cheese would be a great addition as well. 

Oh! (Above) Check out my new All Clad brand stove top grill pan from Williams-Sonoma. I love it!

I used the cute little peppers. I got a nice bag of these at Sam's Club. 

Turkey Taco Burgers

1 pound Jennie-O brand Taco Seasoned ground turkey 

3 tablespoons finely diced sweet bell peppers

3 tablespoons finely diced onions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. 

Crumble turkey with fingertips and gently work in the diced vegetables. Shape mixture into four large, flat equal sized patties with even thickness. 

Preheat skillet or stove top grill pan over medium heat. Spray skillet or grill pan with non-stick cooking spray. 

Cook burgers in preheated pan for 8 - 10 minutes, turning once, or until internal temperature if 165 degrees Fahrenheit is reached. 

Asian Turkey Burgers with Asian Broccoli Slaw (21 Day Fix Friendly)

Asian Turkey Burgers with Broccoli Slaw

I am super excited about this new recipe (two new recipes actually).

When you change up your eating habits like I have recently, it stinks when it feels like every meal is some kind of salad.  If you've been following along, you'll know that I've been on a turkey burger kick lately.  This is a new twist on the Greek Zucchini Turkey Burger I made a few weeks ago. This time, I was going for Asian flavors and I am really happy with how it turned out. I am pairing these turkey burgers with a quick and easy broccoli slaw.

Asian Turkey Burgers

Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 grated medium sized carrot (a heaping 1/2 cup) ****
• 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger ****
• 1 teaspoon finely grated garlic (2 small cloves) ****

DIRECTIONS

****I used a box grater to grate my carrot and I used a Microplane brand grater/zester to finely grate the ginger and garlic.

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, carrot, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce.  Gently mix with your hands to ensure all ingredients are evenly distributed.  Shape in to 4 equal patties, not too thick so they cook in the center. Heat a large nonstick skillet or indoor grill pan over medium-high heat. When hot, lightly spray pan with oil or non-stick cooking spray. Add burgers to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Cook on one side until browned (about 4 minutes), then flip. Cook an additional 4 minutes on the second side.  Turn one more time and cook about 2 minutes longer (10 minutes total cooking time).  Burgers are done when no pink remains inside the burgers or internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant read thermometer. 

To reheat one burger, cook in a microwave oven for about 45 seconds on HIGH (100%) power.

Now that you've seen all about these burgers, would you like to know a little bit more about this Asian Broccoli Slaw? It's super simple.

I saw this recipe for Asian Broccoli Slaw on Facebook.  Here is the link to the recipe source (click HERE).  Despite the fact that this recipe calls for only a few ingredients, I still forgot some at the store. The recipe calls for red onions and green onions; I just left them out.  I think it would be great to add a little green onions (scallions) to both these burgers and the slaw, but I had none.  Next time I will add them if I have them on hand.  I cooked up all of my burgers already but I am just making up one portion of slaw when ever I warm up one burger.

Asian Broccoli Slaw
1 serving

1 1/4 cup prepared broccoli slaw from the produce section (shredded broccoli stalks, carrot, purple cabbage)
1 to 2 teaspoons Soy Vay brand "Toasted Sesame Dressing & Sauce"
1 tablespoon dried sweetened cranberries (Craisins)
1 tablespoon slice almonds

Combine all ingredients in a container with a lid.  Shake to coat the ingredients with the dressing.  Enjoy!

***

This is the first time I've tried Soy Vay brand "Toasted Sesame Dressing and Sauce".  I think this slaw would be great with other Asian-inspired salad dressings as well.  This one (see photo below), from Ken's Steakhouse brand, comes to mind.  I don't think I'd buy this Soy Vay brand dressing again.  This dressing has a really oily feeling in my mouth (I even poured some of the oil off of the top of the bottle and down the drain).  This dressing contains sesame oil and it's a product I am not accustomed to.  I'll let you be the judge.  Whatever the case may be, I am enjoying my Asian Turkey Burgers with a side of Asian Broccoli Slaw.  The combination of broccoli slaw, dried cranberries, and almonds is GREAT!  And it's super easy to throw together.

Green Chile Burgers

Green Chile Burgers

Green Chile Burgers
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon chili power
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely mined onion (I used red onion)
2 tablespoons diced green chiles from a can (drained well in a fine mesh sieve)

Directions

Mist a large skillet (or grill pan) with cooking spray and preheat over medium high heat.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Mix gently with hands to distribute the ingredients and shape into 4 equal patties, less than 1/2 inch think.  Add patties to preheated skillet (or grill pan), reduce heat to medium, and cook until bottoms are deep golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Flip and cook until patties are firm to the touch and cooked through (no pink remains), about 4 to 5 minutes more. I like my beef patties prepared medium well; of course, feel free to prepare your Green Chile Burgers to your desired doneness (rare, medium, well done, etc.)

I did not intend to go on a burger frenzy, but it seems as if I have.  I've been wanting to make turkey burgers with different flavor profiles, but the other day I found that I needed to use up some ground beef.  I had let it thaw in the refrigerator and never made what I had intended to make.  I also had some green chiles (from a can) in the freezer (leftover from another recipe), so I decided to make up some Green Chile Burgers; I added in my favorite Mexican or Southwestern spices.

Zach came home while I was making these burgers.  He was starving after playing tennis all day long.  He had a Green Chile Burger on a bun and said it was really flavorful.  Zach topped his burger with grated sharp cheddar cheese.  He went on to say I should make these again.  So there you go!

Above you can see my burger; I had it with a salad of baby arugula and diced tomatoes (dressed with a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar).  I added a dollop of plain lowfat yogurt to my burger (kind of like having sour cream on a taco).  Speaking of which... these Green Chile Burgers taste a lot like tacos, as the seasonings in these burgers are some of the seasonings you'd find in packaged taco seasoning. 

Helpful Hint:  If you ever have left over diced green chiles from a can, don't let them go to waste.  Just place them in a plastic baggie and place them in the freezer for use in a future recipe.

Smoky Turkey Burgers (21 Day Fix Friendly)

Smoky Turkey Burgers

Yes, there IS a burger under there.  It's smothered in mustard and red onion and is sitting on top of a bed of baby arugula. This was today's lunch. Good stuff!

Oh, yum!  These are good and VERY easy to make. 

I used to subscribe to this magazine years ago. I saved all the issues I received and have been going through them recently for some healthy recipe inspiration. 

I considered making these pork burgers but found Jennie-O Lean Ground Turkey on sale for $2.99 per pound at my local Kroger Grocery Store.  I stocked up and made these burgers when I got home from the store. 

Smoky Turkey Burgers

Adapted from "Clean Eating" Magazine

July/August 2010 Issue

Ingredients 

1 pound lean ground turkey (93% lean)

1 teaspoon smoked paprika (sweet)

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Mist a large skillet (or grill pan) with cooking spray and preheat over medium high heat.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Mix gently with hands to distribute the spices and shape into 4 equal patties, less than 1/2 inch think.  Add patties to preheated skillet (or grill pan), reduce heat to medium, and cook until bottoms are deep golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Flip and cook until patties are firm to the touch and cooked through (no pink remains), about 4 to 5 minutes more. Internal temperature should be 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

These burgers are GREAT with mustard and raw onion. Today, I could not decide between Spicy Brown Mustard and Dijon Mustard, so I did a little taste test.  Both were very good with this burger!  In the end, my final vote was for the Dijon Mustard, but you can't go wrong with either kind of mustard.

I am making these burgers ahead and keeping them in the refrigerator until I am ready to eat them later in the week.  I find that the burgers are great reheated in the microwave oven (100 percent power) for 45 seconds.  Yesterday, I made these burgers and also made up some Sweet Potato Hash.  You can find the hash recipe HERE.  The Smoky Burgers and the Sweet Potato Hash go well together.

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Tzatziki

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Tzatziki

I have been on a healthy, clean eating plan since the beginning of June. I've been exercising at least 30 minutes a day (in addition to daily walks with the dogs) and it feels great to have lost nearly 15 pounds and it feels even better to be able to fit into my clothes so comfortably.  I've been eating a lot of grilled chicken, raw vegetables, and hard boiled eggs.  I have to admit, I am growing tired of some of those things. 

Yesterday was one of those days where I started to ask myself, "Is it really worth it?"  I enjoy food, I enjoy cooking, and I enjoy eating out.  I guess I was feeling a little deprived and missing some of the foods I really like.   But I did not throw in the towel.  My husband and I went for a walk and then my husband suggested we go to the store so I could pick up just a few things to make some different meals.  I quickly came up with a game plan to make up some grilled salmon (with lemon), some sweet potato veggie hash, and turkey zucchini burgers with tzatziki. 

The inspiration for the Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki came from THIS RECIPE and THIS RECIPE.  Basically, I made the Turkey Zucchini Burgers from www.skinnytaste.com, but from that recipe, I eliminated the bread crumbs, and I added ground cumin and coriander and a little extra onion.  I also made up some cucumber-yogurt sauce (also known as tzatziki) to finish it off.  The results were delicious.  I grilled my burgers indoors on my stove top grill pan.  I was worried my burgers would fall apart since I did not use any bread crumbs but they held together okay; I handled them with care.  If you are grilling outdoors, you might want to use the breadcrumbs as recommended on www.skinnytaste.com. That might help the burgers hold together a little better while grilling.

TURKEY ZUCCHINI BURGERS

Servings: 5

INGREDIENTS

• 5 oz grated zucchini (when squeezed 4.25 oz)
• 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 clove garlic, finely grated
• 1/4 of a small yellow onion, grated
• 1 tsp kosher salt and several grinds of freshly ground black pepper 

DIRECTIONS

Squeeze ALL the moisture from the zucchini with paper towels. In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, zucchini, garlic, onion, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Make 5 equal patties, 4 1/2 ounces each, not too thick so they cook in the center. To cook indoors: Heat a large nonstick skillet on high heat. When hot, lightly spray oil. Add burgers to the pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook on one side until browned, then flip. Flip over a few times to prevent burning and to make sure the burgers are cooked all the way through. If grilling: Clean grill well before cooking and spray with oil spray to prevent sticking. Cook the burgers on medium heat about 5 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in the center.

Tzatziki Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups of plain, lowfat yogurt (I used a little less)
• 1/2 of an English cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, finely diced
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• several grinds of freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 garlic clove, finely grated
• juice of 1/2 of a lemon

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl; stir well to combine.  Serve the tzatziki over the turkey zucchini burgers.

So good! I will definitely be making this recipe again!

More Observations About a Family on a Diet... and a recipe for Boneless Skinless Chicken Wings

When we came home from vacation a few weeks ago, my weight was hovering ridiculously close to 160 pounds.  Eeek!  Today, my weight is hovering excitingly close to 150 pounds! Yay!

We are doing well with our new and improved healthy eating and exercise plans. I loathe the word "diet" because that infers something temporary... as in, "the diet will end when we achieve our goal weights."  Really, the changes we are making should be made into habits in our every day lives.

I would not say we've "cheated" on our diet, but lately we've tried to have a few of the dishes we've been avoiding since our return from vacation.  Chicken wings, burgers, and pizza!  Eeek!  We went to our favorite burger joint (a drive-in place with picnic tables... it's a dive but the burgers are GREAT!).  We had burgers; no fries and it was good.  We had a frozen Tombstone pizza in the freezer and we removed the super greasy pepperoni before baking.  It satisfied the pizza craving.  We have a huge bag of frozen chicken wing portions in the freezer so we set out to make chicken wings. We enjoyed the Buffalo Style Wings a number of times on vacation.  The boys are really into wings.  Me, not so much.  I know chicken skin is where all the fat and cholesterol lies.  I often make breaded Oven Baked Chicken Wings for the boys and I usually don't eat them... except for the samples for, uhhh... quality assurance purposes.  Hee, hee!  So we tried to figure out the calorie count in wings. The package says 220 calories for a 4 ounce serving if I am not mistaken. 

We opted to bake or roast the wings, seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper, in the oven in our shallow roasting pan for about an hour at 450 degrees. I turned the wings once.  We put the hot, cooked wings in a big plastic container, drenched the wings in Frank's Red Hot sauce, covered with a lid, shook the container to coat the wings, and then served the wings with a bit of Lite Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing for dipping.  It was pretty good I guess, but wow... so many calories.

Light bulb!

A few days later, I proposed this to the boys and it was pretty good. Here's what we did:

Boneless Buffalo Chicken Wings

3 - 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders

salt and pepper

1/4 to 1/2 cup Frank's Hot Sauce Original
Lite Creamy Blue Cheese Salad dressing (for dipping)

Slice the chicken breasts into similar sized chunks.  I sliced the small breasts into 3 chunks and I sliced the larger breasts into 4 chunks.  Season with salt and pepper.

I cooked the chicken in my George Foreman Grill.  A grill outdoors or a non-stick skillet would also work.  In the George Foreman Grill, I cooked the chicken chunks for about 10 minutes (the chunks were kind of thick and I am paranoid about under cooking chicken).  I tossed the cooked chicken in a large plastic container, poured the Frank's Hot Sauce over the chicken, covered with a lid, shook the sauce and chicken together to coat, and then served with the blue cheese dressing for dipping.

Sorry no photo, but it was so tasty it was all gone before I could snap a photo!  The only problem I found with this dish is that the sauce doesn't really like to stick to the chicken. In traditional Buffalo Style Chicken Wings, the hot sauce is combined with melted butter. Maybe that helps it stick better?  I will never know.

Got to go... my steel cut oats are ready!

Mexicali Pork Chops

Mexicali Pork Chops

Dry Rub for Mexicali Pork Chops (or Chicken):
1/2 teaspoon each paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, dried oregano & granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper and ancho chili powder.

Combine all herbs/spices in a small bowl or small container with a tight fitting lid.  Stir/shake well to combine.

This dry rub would be good on pork or chicken. We used lean center-cut pork chops which were about 3/4 inch thick. I sprinkled the rub on both sides of five medium sized chops and sort of rubbed it in. I stacked the chops and put them in a plastic storage container with a lid and popped it in the fridge until dinner time (they "marinated" for about an hour).  I cooked them on the George Foreman Grill for about 6 minutes. They had nice grill marks and were still moist inside.  Of course, if you don't have a fire ban, you can grill your chops in the great outdoors!

We had our pork chops with Salsa Fresca (link to recipe HERE) and left over Cilantro-Lime Basmati Rice (link to recipe HERE).

When Life Gives You Lemons... Make Lemonade

And when the County Sheriff imposes a fire ban... which includes outdoor grilling.... GRILL INDOORS!

Grilled Chicken Shish-ka-bobs with Peppers, Onions, & Jalapeno 

Upon my return from my trip to the grocery store last Wednesday, I carefully selected and trimmed up chicken breasts, tucked them in a gallon sized zip-close bag, added about 1/3 cup of Italian salad dressing, massaged it around, and popped it all in the freezer to grill later in the week.  I actually remembered to thaw the chicken in preparation for dinner tonight (it marinated while it defrosted) only to have my husband call me to announce, "No grilling for the time being... Sheriff has imposed a fire ban in our county!"  We are in a drought.  The smoke from wild fires in Colorado and Arizona has been filling our sky with smoke and the air quality is poor on and off depending on the direction of the wind.  We are seeing helicopters and airplanes fly overhead with contraptions for siphoning water out of bodies of water to carry to the fires.  The smoke in the air does make for some pretty sunsets... just so you know.  Our average annual rainfall in Southern Colorado is about 12 to 13 inches and is it so dry right now.  When the wind blows, dust clouds skim across the ground.  

Thankfully, grilling indoors is an option for me because I have the hugest EVER "George Foreman Grill" (AKA: The Lean Mean Grilling Machine).  Of course... this dish can be grilled outdoors.

Recipe for Grilled Chicken Shish-ka-bobs with Peppers, Onions, & Jalapenos:

4 small to medium sized chicken breasts, cut into EQUAL sized cubes (about 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes)
Italian salad dressing (I used Wishbone Brand)
1 large red bell pepper, cut into chunks similar in size to the chicken cubes
1 large yellow or red onion, cut into chunks similar in size to the chicken cubes
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds and membranes removed (optional), cut into slightly smaller chunks
salt and pepper to taste

Cut chicken into cubes which are equal in size so they will cook evenly.  Place in a zip close bag with about 1/3 cup Italian salad dressing (so that the cubes are coated); place in refrigerate to marinate for about 2 to 3 hours (a little more or less is fine... it's pretty flexible).  Note:  If the chicken marinates too long, the vinegar actually starts to sort of "cook"  the chicken and it becomes discolored (white). 

I assembled the shish-ka-bobs on bamboo skewers, alternating red bell pepper, onion, jalapeno pepper, and chicken cubes.  There's no right or wrong; just dive in.  After all of the ingredients were loaded onto the skewers, I drizzled on a bit more salad dressing.

I cooked four loaded skewers at a time on my pre-heated George Foreman Grill.  Of course, you can grill this in the great outdoors provided you do NOT have a fire ban.  I cooked the shish-ka-bobs for about 8 minutes total, turning once. I also moved the skewers around a bit since it appeared some were grilling faster than others due to hotter and cooler spots on the grill; the same is true for indoor and outdoor grills. Your cooking time will vary depending upon your cooking method.  My shish-ka-bobs were nicely charred but the veggies were still slightly crisp.  I removed a piece of chicken from one skewer to check for done-ness.   

We enjoyed the shish-ka-bobs over Cilantro-Lime Rice.  Here's the recipe:

Cilantro-Lime Basmati Rice

1 cup basmati rice
1 ¾ cups water
Pinch of salt
1/3 to ½ of a bunch of fresh cilantro, finely minced
Zest of 1 lime, finely grated (Microplane grater works well)

Bring water and salt to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add rice; stir. Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer on stovetop’s lowest setting, cover with a lid, and simmer for 18 to 20 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. Fluff rice with a fork; add the lime zest and cilantro and stir to combine.

Lunch for tomorrow... easy!

Happy Father's Day...
this was on the floor
in front of the TV
when I got home from work tonight... cute!