Grill | I Can Cook That

Cinnamon Rum-Spiked Grilled Pineapple with Ice Cream

When I was creating my Labor Day Round Up post, I realized one of my favorite grilling recipes was conspicuously missing. My friends and I love to soak pineapple in a rum-sugar mixture, heat it on the grill until the sugars caramelize, and dig in. Although I have been butchering the recipe all summer, I used this Cooking Light recipe as inspiration for our favorite summer grilling treat. Now that I am making this in my kitchen on a grill pan, I’m actually able to pair it with the ice cream for the full effect.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup dark spiced rum (such as Captain Morgan’s)
1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 pint vanilla ice cream

Cinnamon, to taste

Labor Day Round Up

Labor Day is only a week away, which means people around the country are in search of the best ways to celebrate the end of summer with their friends and family. I rounded up some of my past posts that would make any Labor Day celebration a delicious affair.

When most think of Labor Day, they think of grilling. So here are some of my favorites, along with sides and small bites that would be perfect for a barbecue:

Grilled Duck with Warm Mushroom Salad and Truffle Vinaigrette

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Grilling is synonymous with Memorial Day in my mind, so I was so happy to receive a Grilling Cookbook from Cooking Light a few days ago. The cookbook: Cooking Light Way to Cook Grilling: The Complete Visual Guide to Healthy Grilling is pretty darn snazzy. The photos are gorgeous, so um, please don’t compare my crummy photos for this recipe to the ones in the book, that will make me sad. Anyways, when I saw a recipe for grilled duck, I wanted to try it. I love duck, it’s a go-to for me at restaurants. But, I’m beyond terrified to cook it myself. It’s a tough meat to cook, and if overcooked, can be super crummy. Plus, it’s not exactly cheap! But grilling? I think I can handle that…

This recipe sounded like it was written just for me and my boyfriend. Before even opening the cookbook this was our conversation:

“We should try grilling a meat we’ve never made before, I’m not in the mood for a normal burger”

“Yeah, and maybe we can grill up some asparagus and mushrooms as well. I do want a meat as part of the meal though.”

We turn to this recipe, which managed to incorporate all of our requirements, and we were sold. The only thing we weren’t sold on? The marinating time. The original recipe suggested marinating the duck overnight, up to two days. We wanted duck, and we wanted it well before tomorrow, so our marinating was closer to 3 hours instead. There are also some pretty pricey ingredients in this dish, so this would definitely be a special occasion type of meal.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 (6-ounce) boneless duck breast, skinned
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
Cooking spray
3 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 5 ounces)
2 cups thinly sliced portobello mushroom caps (about 5 ounces)
3/4 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut asparagus
1 1/2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons truffle oil

Continue reading Grilled Duck with Warm Mushroom Salad and Truffle Vinaigrette

Spicy Moroccan Chicken Skewers

I know, I know. I really need to up my chicken recipes. Cooking Light must realize this too because they had a recipe for Spicy Moroccan Chicken Skewers that I couldn’t pass up. The original recipe suggested serving the skewers with Greek yogurt, so I made a quick raita to go with them. I also served it with a simple couscous. This recipe does involve marinating the chicken for 2 hours, so prepare accordingly. (I made this over a weekend, I think this might be tough to make on a weeknight.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons chile paste (such as sambal oelek)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
5/8 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 30 pieces
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into 12 pieces
12 cherry tomatoes
Cooking spray
1/4 cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 a cucumber, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped mint
the juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper, to taste

Continue reading Spicy Moroccan Chicken Skewers

Grilled Salmon and Brown Butter Couscous

Salmon and couscous were just made for each other, don’t you think? They are also the perfect choices for a weeknight meal, you’re sure to get food on the table in no time. Cooking Light’s latest issue has a recipe for Grilled Salmon and Brown Butter Couscous that sounded just wonderful. The magazine suggested making this with grilled summer squash. But I stink. And forgot to pick up the squash. Sigh. If you try the squash out with this recipe, let me know how it goes!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 cup uncooked couscous
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt $
4 (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets
Cooking spray

To make, first preheat your grill to medium-high heat. I live in the city, so I use a grill pan and it works just fine. Add the butter to a small pot over medium heat. Cook for 3 minutes or until browned. Add the pine nuts. Cook for 1 minute stirring occasionally.

So at this stage, I was pretty sure I burnt the pine nuts. Maybe it’ll add a smokiness to the couscous?

Add the couscous and cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

While waiting for the couscous to cook, combine the pepper, ground fennel seeds, ground coriander, sugar, and salt in a bowl. As a note, the original recipe called for white pepper, which I do not have. Also, I have fennel seeds that I stuck in my Magic Bullet and blend until powdery.

Sprinkle fillets with the spice mixture and place on grill, skin side up. Grilled for 4 minutes on each side.

Add the wine and broth and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, remove from heat, and let stand for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes have passed, fluff with a fork and stir in the lemon rind, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Yep. Totally burned the pine nuts.

The salmon should be finished slightly after the couscous.

The summer squash would have been a wonderful complement. What was I thinking, making a meal without a vegetable? Oh well.

The flavors were absolutely delicious. The spices on the salmon gave so much flavor, but what I really loved was how great of a sear I got on my salmon. It looks so snazzy!

The couscous was really flavorful, the brown butter and even the pine nuts (which weren’t too burnt to eat, yay!) I love love the hit of citrus with the couscous as well.

To not burn the pine nuts, maybe cook them for about 30 seconds. I also think there’s a chance I never stirred them.. I honestly don’t remember!

Grilled Tomato Orzo Salad in a Tomato Bowl

We have been having such a warm spring in Philadelphia. So if the weather is going to pretend it is summer, I will as well! To me, summer means tomatoes, corn, pesto, pasta salad, and of course, grilling.

Before I go into this recipe for Grilled Tomato Orzo Salad in a Tomato Bowl, first I want to tell you about Lipman Tomatoes. Lipman Tomatoes, a business-to-business company that has been supplying tomatoes and other vegetables to grocery stores and restaurants for 70 years, is about to launch a consumer-focused brand and website. Lipman contacted me about developing a recipe to celebrate their launch, which is the perfect opportunity for me to give into my “summer fever”. I decided to make a Grilled Tomato Orzo Salad served in a Tomato Bowl. (Update: the site is now live! Check out my recipe here!)

Lipman sent me an awesome assortment of their tomatoes. I decided to use the grape tomatoes for grilling, and the Vintage Ripe (a beautiful heirloom tomato) as my tomato bowls. The assortment also came with some cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes so expect me to be on quite the tomato kick in the coming days!

Ingredients:

4 large Vintage Ripe tomatoes

1 cup orzo

4 cups vegetable broth

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 corn on the cob (or 1/3 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed)

8 oz mozzarella balls (if you cant get marinated mozzarella balls, even better!)

1 cucumber, seeded and chopped

Mint, for garnish

For the pesto:

2 bunches fresh basil leaves (about 2 cups packed)

1/3 cup walnuts

3 garlic cloves, minced

the juice and zest of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup grated Parmiginao-Reggiano cheese

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Grilled Striped Bass with Bacon Vinaigrette Red Smashed Potatoes and Sauteed Butter Thyme Mushrooms

Grilled Striped Bass with Bacon Vinaigrette Red Smashed Potatoes and Sauteed Butter Thyme Mushrooms. Whew. By the time you say the title of this post you could have cooked most of this meal. Fish is a perfect weekday choice because it is so darn quick to cook up. I managed to make all parts of this meal in 40 minutes which was awesome! If you wanted to cut the time for this meal even more, you could doctor up some of those refrigerator mashed potatoes from the supermarket, but I really like home made mashed potatoes so I went for it. No one is surprised to hear that this menu comes from my trusty Cooking Light.

Ingredients:

2 (8-ounce) striped bass fillets
salt, divided
freshly ground black pepper, divided
4 slices center-cut bacon
2 large shallots, finely chopped and divided
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound red potatoes
2 garlic cloves, halved
1/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 (8-ounce) packages presliced baby bella mushrooms
1/3 cup dry white wine
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

Begin with making the mashed potatoes. The original recipe has you peel and cube the potatoes. I really like the skins of potatoes so I altered the recipe to be smashed instead of mashed. Feel free to check out the original recipe here if you’re not into the skins. Add the potatoes and the halved garlic cloves to a large pasta pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil.

While waiting for the water to come to a boil, prepare your other ingredients. Chop the shallots and fresh thyme. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/4 cup of the chopped shallots to the pan. Cook for about 1 minute.

By now your water will hopefully be boiling. Reduce heat for the pasta pot and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

Go back to the saute pan. Add a 1/2 teaspoon salt and the mushrooms to the pan, stirring occasionally. Cook for 13 minutes or until the mushrooms are brown and the liquid has evaporated.

While waiting for the two to cook (and if you have room on your stove), add another saute pan over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove from heat and add to a paper towel. Reserve 1.5 tablespoons of the drippings in the pan. Crumble the bacon.

Add the crumbled bacon and 2 tablespoons shallots back to the pan, cooking over medium heat for 1 minute stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar, Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon sugar.

Back to the mushrooms. Add the wine to the pan and cook for 2 minutes or until the liquid almost evaporates.

Stir in the thyme and cook for 30 seconds and remove from heat.

Drain the pasta pot and return the potatoes and garlic to the pot. Mash using a potato masher or a large fork. Add the milk, 1 tablespoon butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and mix to combine.

We haven’t abandoned the Vinaigrette! Take the mixture and slowly add the olive oil to the vinegar mixture, stirring constantly to get an emulsion.

Last but not least, we have the bass. Heat a grill pan over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper and add to the grill pan skin side up. Cook for 4 minutes. (You can set your table during this time).

Flip the fish and cook for another 4 minutes.

Serve drizzled with the bacon vinaigrette.

Multi tasking at its finest! I hope my directions made sense. It’s not nearly as confusing as it sounds. You kind of bounce around between things based on when you have the opportunity to do so.

So whoever thought of the idea of bacon vinaigrette is one awesome person. It was smoky and slightly tangy. I actually put some on my mashed potatoes as well (which I highly suggest).

This was my first time having bass and I really enjoyed it. Despite doing a whole lot of nothing to cook it, the fish was flavorful and had almost a buttery taste to it.

The mushrooms were awesome as well! I added a bit more fresh thyme once it was on my plate for a little more flavor and some color.

Sorry my photos are so crummy. First, it’s not exactly the most colorful meal I’ve ever made. Second, the smell of bacon made my antsy. I needed to eat this ASAP 🙂

I hope you’ll forgive my lack of photography skills due to the calling of bacon.

Guest Post: Gourmet Turkey Burger with Island Slaw from Positively Cooking

I have another amazing guest post for you today! Adrienne, from Positively Cooking, agreed to share one of her delicious recipes with us. Positively Cooking is chock full of delicious and nutritious meals that use easy to find ingredients. Her Gourmet Turkey Burger with Island Slaw is not only beautiful (I mean, look at these photos) but it is a healthy and delicious meal as well. Check out her recipe below and be sure to pop over to Positively Cooking to see all of the other mouth watering recipes her blog has to offer!

A savory, juicy burger is pretty hard to beat. When that burger is full of nutrients, easy on your waistline, easy on your budget, and needless to say tastes delicious, a burger is near impossible to beat. Using ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen, I have developed my Gourmet Turkey Burger w Island Slaw from my own personal cravings for a filling, tasty meal.

You don’t need to wait until sweet summertime to enjoy burgers from the grill. Since I am an Ohio girl (and stuck inside during the winter months… ugh), I grilled mine stovetop on a griddle and also tried it on my George Foreman – both will leave your burgers beautifully cooked through and juicy. That being said, I am already looking forward to enjoying this recipe with some Sangria this weekend because hey, enjoying refreshing dishes like this helps an Ohio girl like me get through the winter!Enjoy!

Gourmet Turkey Burgers

1 lb. ground turkey

1 bell pepper, chopped and seeded

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups spinach, roughly chopped

1 egg, beaten

½ cup breadcrumbs

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. salt

Honey Mustard, to garnish

Avocado, to garnish

Cheese slices, to garnish

Whole wheat buns

In a medium-size mixing bowl, place your ground turkey. Add in all ingredients [OTHER than garnishes – Honey Mustard, Avocado, and Cheese] Combine thoroughly.

With meat-mixture, form into one big “ball” and divide into 4-6 even sections. Form each section into a burger patty. [Tip: make the center of your patty thinner than the rim, to ensure it is cooked through.]

Grilling? Place patties on foil, and grill at medium-high heat for about 8 minutes on each side. Remember, your George Foreman counts!

Cooking stovetop?Lightly coat skillet with cooking spray. Cook patties over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes, turning once.

Serve your burgers with desired toppings [As mentioned before, I suggest honey mustard, avocado, cheese, and of course Island Slaw]

Tips: Sub ground beef for the ground turkey if that is what you prefer.

Island Slaw

1 bag shredded cabbage

¾ cup All-Natural Light Coleslaw Dressing OR Light Poppyseed Dressing

1 can pineapple tidbits, drained

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

½ cup walnuts, crumbled

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients for coleslaw. Mix thoroughly. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tips: I encourage you to enjoy the Island Slaw right on top of your Gourmet Turkey Burger

Doesn’t this sound like the perfect way to make you feel like warmer weather really is just around the corner? The Island Slaw has such beautiful colors in it; pineapple, mandarin oranges and walnuts together must be heavenly! And that is one snazzy looking burger; I love that it has spinach as well as chili powder to add some extra flavor.

Many thanks to Adrienne for sharing this recipe! Don’t forget to stop over at Positively Cooking to say hello and check out all the other yummy meals Adrienne has cooked up! (Some of my personal favorites include Blackberry Salmon, Skinny and Spiced Jalapeno Poppers, and Coconut French Toast with Sauteed Peaches)

Goat Cheese Stuffed Lamb Burgers

Oh yes, you read that correctly. A delicious grilled lamb burger, with goat cheese inside. I have been craving Goat Cheese Stuffed Lamb Burgers for a good week now and finally managed to find ground lamb (which was surprisingly difficult for some reason) to make them. I used a recipe off of Finish Your Broccoli‘s blog that she made a while back to make the actual burger. I took some liberty in making it but for the most part it’s basically the same.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground lamb
3 tbsp plain yogurt
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp minced fresh mint
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
Pinch cayenne
4 oz log goat cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped basil
Tzatziki
Sliced cucumber
Pita bread or hamburger buns, toasted

Add the ground lamb, plain yogurt, panko, mint, salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne to a large bowl.

Mix to combine.

Add the goat cheese, olive oil, parsley, and basil to a small bowl.

Mix to combine.

Take the meat mixture and divide it evenly into four patties.

Make a well in each patty and add an equal amount of the cheese mixture into each well.

Form the meat patty around the cheese mixture.

Heat a grill pan (or grill) and cook the burger to your liking. Because they are so thick, you might need to cook them long and slow.

Grill the hamburger buns or pita bread.

Top the burger with tzatziki and sliced cucumber.

And there you have it!

You bite in and get a really delicious, moist burger.

With a flavorful, gooey center.

Mmmm.

This is EXACTLY what I was craving. And it’s really quick! What more could you ask for?

Grilled Rosemary Swordfish with Vegetable Couscous

I apologize for the lack of posts! Like many, I’ve spent the past week doing a whole lot of eating, but not necessarily cooking. My parents gave me a nifty panini pan for the stove which also doubles as a grill pan. I wanted to test it out, so I decided to try Cooking Light’s Rosemary Swordfish on Vegetable Couscous.

Ingredients (this makes one serving so multiply as needed):

1 teaspoon olive oil’
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 (5-ounce) swordfish steak
1/2 carrot, diced
1/2 zucchini, diced
3 Kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped
the juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/4 uncooked couscous
Salt and pepper, to taste

Continue reading Grilled Rosemary Swordfish with Vegetable Couscous

Southwestern Burgers with Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries & Chili Aioli

The high humidity continues in Philadelphia so I decided to just give in and have a summery meal. I made this inside on a grill pan, but the burger can be made on an outdoor grill just as easily. I will focus more on making the fries, because the burger is mostly stacking ingredients.

Ingredients:

Burger:

4 hamburger patties

4 slices of pepper jack cheese

1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado

4 hamburger buns

Sweet Potato Fries:

4 larger sized sweet potatoes, cut into wedges

Salt

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2 teaspoons chipotle powder

Chili Aioli:

1/3 cup mayo

1 tablespoon chili sauce (like Sriracha)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into wedges. I honestly don’t think I succeeded in actually getting “wedges” but oh well. Place on a baking sheet lined with tin foil and sprinkle with salt.

Melt the butter, either on a stovetop or in the microwave.

Drizzle the melted butter and sprinkle the chipotle powder over the sweet potato wedges.

Cook for 30-40 minutes, turning each piece over half way through so that they cook evenly.

While the fries are cooking, combine the Sriracha and mayo in a bowl.

Cook the burgers to desired degree of doneness. Toast the buns on the grill as well. Add about 1 teaspoon of the aoili to the tops of each bun. Top each burger with one slice of cheese, a slice of red onion and 1/4 of the avocado.

Serve with the fries and the aioli.

I am in love with this dinner. I seriously considered making this again the next night. The sweet potato fries were the perfect mix of sweet and spicy, especially when paired with the aioli. I could eat the fries and aioli by themselves! I always love avocado on burgers, and the addition of pepper jack cheese and red onion made it even more delicious. This is a must try meal!

Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

I honestly don’t know why I don’t make more dinners that involve chicken. I guess I just never have any on hand. This week, we were celebrating one of my friend’s birthdays by making her dinner and we settled on a chicken dish. I was really at a loss for what to make, so luckily Budget Bytes came to the rescue with her recipe for Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken. (Please excuse the photos in this post. I wasn’t exactly planning on making a post about it so they aren’t that fantastic. But this recipe is too good not to share!)

Ingredients:

For Chicken:

4 thin chicken breasts
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Basil, thinly sliced
Parsley, chopped

For Bruschetta:

4 medium roma tomatoes
1 small sweet onion
1 medium garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Continue reading Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

It’s difficult to not associate barbecues with Labor Day weekend. The unofficial end of summer is usually spent the same way summer began on Memorial Day: relaxing (preferably at a beach) and enjoying the company of friends and family while eating burgers, hot dogs, and grilled chicken. Well, there was no beach for me this weekend, but I was still able to “grill” despite the kind of crummy weather so that I still got my barbecue fix. Cooking Light has a surprisingly simple looking recipe for Pulled Chicken Sandwiches that I just had to try.

Ingredients:

For the chicken:
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray

For the sauce:
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses

Remaining ingredients:
8 sandwich rolls, toasted
Pickles, your choice

Don’t let the number of ingredients deter you from making this. It really is simple! The original recipe actually used dark brown sugar, but I had light brown sugar on hand. Feel free to use whichever one you happen to have. You can substitute chicken breasts for this, but thigh meat adds extra juiciness to the sandwich that you really don’t want to miss out tasting.

Begin by preheating your grill. I was stuck indoors, so I just used a grill pan.

Combine first 7 ingredients (light brown sugar through ginger) in a small bowl. I somehow misplaced my measuring spoons so I kind of eyeballed all of these ingredients. Don’t worry about getting the perfect amounts, it’s more about the proportion to the other spices.

Rub the mixture evenly over the chicken.

Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray.

Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 180 degrees, turning occasionally.

Let stand for 5 minutes.

Shred with 2 forks.

Set to the side for now.

Prepare your onions. If needed, slice your pickles. My boyfriend prefers sweet pickles so we bought the mini ones and minced them for an easy topping.

To prepare sauce, heat oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and the next 5 ingredients (chili powder through ground red pepper) and cook for 30 seconds.

Add ketchup, vinegar and molasses.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.

Stir in chicken and cook for 2 minutes, making sure the chicken is thoroughly coated in the sauce.

Toast the buns.

Place about 1/3 cup chicken mixture on bottom halves of the toasted roll.

Top with pickles if desired.

This recipe was promising from the start. I haven’t seen my boyfriend so excited for a meal I’m cooking in a long time; he even offered to help out! (He worked on grilling and shredding the chicken while I prepped and worked on the sauce, it really sped up the cook time). And this recipe really delivered. It tasted like it had slow cooked for hours, subtly sweet and spicy at the same time. I really don’t like pickles, but my boyfriend had his topped with pickles and said it really made the sandwich that much better.

This meal could easily be used in the winter months to remind you of the warmer weather. You could make this as I did on a grill pan, or to really enhance the flavor, you could cook the chicken in a slow cooker for 5 hours on low.

Baba Ghannouj

My CSA share came with eggplant this week. My mind went immediately to Baba Ghannouj, which is sort of like hummus with eggplant substituted for the chickpeas. The eggplant is grilled or baked before pureeing it to give it a smoky flavor. I have never worked with eggplant before, so I used Eating Well’s recipe as a base for my baba ghannouj.

Ingredients:

1 eggplant
2 cloves of garlic (unpeeled)
2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus zest from the lemon
1 tablespoon tahini
3/4 teaspoons salt
Olive oil, as needed
Pine nuts, optional

Continue reading Baba Ghannouj

Grilled Corn with Chipotle-Lime Butter

After reading just the title, how could you not be excited for this recipe? Grilled corn is one of my favorite treats in the summer, and I refuse to let my city dwelling keep me from it! I cooked this on a counter top grill and loved it, so I can only imagine how delicious this is on an actual outdoor grill.

This is another recipe from Cooking Light’s “Quick & Healthy Menu Maker App“. I cut the recipe in half, to make only two servings. We ate this along side the Mango Shrimp Kabobs.

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

2 ears shucked corn

1/2 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

Zest from 1 lime

Salt and pepper, to taste

Begin by shucking your corn. Take care to remove as much of the silk as possible.

Side note: this was probably the most stressful part of the process for me. I was using corn from my CSA share and had read a post from another CSA share member, One Curly Fry in a Box of the Regular, about the horror she found under the husk. Oh the joys of organic produce. Thankfully, I had a bit more luck than she did. Look how wonderful that corn looks!

Preheat your grill. I set mine for medium-high. Coat the grill with cooking spray and add the corn.

Cook until grill marks begin to appear, about 10 minutes (closer to 8 minutes for a normal grill). Turn the corn frequently to allow it to evenly cook.

While the corn is cooking, place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds or until the butter has melted. Add the chile powder, zest, pepper and salt.

ok. It’s not much to look at, but it tastes good!

Remove the corn from the grill and brush the butter mixture over the corn.

I loved the subtle smokiness of the chipotle chile powder with the corn. We had some leftover limes from the kebobs and took full advantage of the lime juice on the corn, which really worked well with the butter mixture. I honestly had trouble taking photos of this, because as soon as it was done, we couldn’t control ourselves and scarfed it down! Definitely a keeper.