Garlic Marinated Chicken Cutlets with Grilled Potatoes

I found this recipe at MarthaStewart.com. And if you would have told me nine months ago that I'd be visiting Martha Stewart's website I would have slapped you. I seem to be saying that a lot these days. But I give her credit, this meal is fantastic. I made this at my brother's place last night and we were both impressed.

The potatoes were out of this world. I varied from the directions slightly and finished them in a grill basket to crisp them up a little bit, and it worked perfectly. The chicken had a nice flavor, too.

I paired the meal with what's become one of my signatures—a grilled romaine salad. My brother had never had it before and he was blown away. I've yet to make this salad for anyone who hasn't raved about it. It's worth a look.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds baby red potatoes, halved or quartered if large
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 3 tbsps fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 chicken cutlets

Grilled Spicy-Citrus Chicken with Corn

Yes, more chicken. I've really cut down on my red meat. And I've been told I shouldn't eat much pork. So chicken has been my go-to meat on the grill. But what I've learned is that it's difficult to get tired of it if you keep finding new ways to make it. This meal was outstanding.

The chicken had a great flavor. Personally, I'd prefer a little more heat. Next time, I'll be cranking up the amount of hot pepper sauce and crushed red pepper in the marinade—perhaps by up to one-third. What really attracted me to this recipe (found on www.epicurious.com), however, was the notion of marinating corn. I had never heard of it before, so figured I'd give it a shot. The result was the tastiest corn I've ever had. At a friend's suggestion, I added some red pepper sauce (Frank's Red Hot) just before eating. Outstanding.

Let me know what you think.

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh lime juice
• 2/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp hot pepper sauce
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 8 chicken breasts
• 8 ears of corn, husked

Grilled Garlic Chicken with Bell Peppers

This one gets high marks. I found this recipe on Epicurious, via Bon Appetit magazine. It's a well-balanced meal with outstanding flavor that was quite easy to prepare. The Italian dressing, garlic and rosemary team to create a great taste. But I might have to work on my rice cooking skills—it was a bit sticky. Hmmmm, maybe there's a way to grill rice?

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Italian salad dressing
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 red bell pepper, quartered lengthwise
• 1 green bell pepper, quartered lengthwise
• 1 yellow bell pepper, quartered lengthwise 
• Rice (I used brown rice)

Grilled Peaches

 

Last weekend was Park Ave. Festival in the city of Rochester. I live in the heart of that vibrant neighborhood which meant, naturally, I needed to have friends over to enjoy the festivities. I figured that represented a perfect opportunity to fire up the grill. I wanted things to be simple and easy. But I also wanted to try something new. A colleague suggested grilling peaches for dessert and I was immediately intrigued. These came out tasty, but the peaches could have been more ripe. Be sure to select some that are. 

This is a quick, easy, healthy dessert. And it's a fun and interesting way to use your grill. Enjoy.

Ingredients

• Desired amount of peaches, halved
• Dollop of Greek Yogurt for each halved peach
• Touch of honey for each halved peach

Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Fresh Mango Salsa

I've never been much of a seafood fan. But I'm trying to change that. It has tremendous health benefits and it adds another dimension of variety to my diet, which I'm always searching for.

I tried Mahi-Mahi at a restaurant a couple weeks ago and was quite impressed. It is a white fish with a mild taste (something I find absolutely necessary in fish). I decided I wanted to try grilling it myself.

I found this halibut recipe on Robyn's blog, Simply Fresh Dinners, a while back and was intrigued by the mango salsa. I figured it would be tasty with Mahi-Mahi. I was right. This is a quick, easy, light, healthy meal. Can't go wrong. Plus, Mahi-Mahi is much more reasonably priced than halibut. I suggest giving it a shot.

Ingredients

• 2 cups plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 1/2 cups diced mango
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsps fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt, divided
• 1 tsp black pepper, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 (6 ounce) Mahi-Mahi filets
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Chipotle-Lime Chicken

This is a quick, easy meal with a nice, clean taste. As I've written before, you can never find enough different ways to cook chicken. This recipe from Epicurious, via Gourmet magazine, calls for chicken thighs—but I used breasts to make it a touch healthier. The result was pretty darn good, though I'll tinker with the marinade in the future to make it a bit more powerful (I'll definitely be adding more hot sauce to increase the heat).

I'll also try to increase the time I'm marinating the chicken—perhaps marinating it for about two hours—to infuse more flavor. But if you're pressed for time, this works fine. The flavor is just a bit more subtle.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 1/2 tbsps chipotle Tabasco (I used Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce because my supermarket didn't carry chipotle Tabasco)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 6 large boneless, skinless chicken thighs (2 1/2 lbs total)
• 2 tsp mild honey

Grilled Chicken and Shrimp Salad

No need to mince words here. This is the best salad I've ever had. And I've been the kind of guy who thinks a salad is a salad is a salad. Not anymore. Well, at least when it comes to this salad.

This meal is the creation of my friend Robyn at Simply Fresh Dinners (Public Service Announcement, I've found A LOT of recipes on her site. You should take a look.). The combination of flavors makes it truly unique. And the homemade oil and vinegar dressing Robyn concocted offers the perfect compliment to all of them.

There are no grilling secrets here. Just grill up the chicken and shrimp over direct heat, combine with the other ingredients, and enjoy!

Ingredients (makes four servings)

• 1 lb raw, frozen, peeled and deveined large or jumbo shrimp
• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 cups of spinach
• 2 cups of strawberries, sliced
• 2 cups of red grapes
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 3/4 cup feta cheese (I'm not a feta fan, so I used parmesan)
• 1/2 cup croutons
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Dressing ingredients

• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped basil
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Shrimp marinade ingredients

• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 tbsp Asian Chili Garlic Sauce
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• dash of freshly ground pepper