Grilled Chicken Breasts with Soy and Honey Marinade

I prefer chicken breast on the bone — it tends to be juicier because the bones protect the meat from the heat. And besides, I am a bone chewer!

On the other hand, when it’s summer and I’m a little less motivated to cook and want an easy dinner, boneless chicken sure comes in handy.

I’ve made this dish many times (changed the sweetener to agave or maple; once used molasses; used pineapple juice instead of orange juice; left out the chili pepper because my sister-in-law, who was coming for dinner, doesn’t like even a hint of spice in her food). It’s easy to prepare the marinade and the good thing is, I can marinate the chicken ahead of time. Cooking takes anywhere from 10 to 16 minutes, max.

Easy peasy.

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Grilled Chicken Breasts with Orange, Soy Sauce and Honey

• 1/4 cup soy sauce

• 1/4 cup orange juice

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1 tablespoon grated fresh orange zest

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

• 2 scallions, finely chopped

• 1 clove garlic, chopped

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped serrano or jalapeno pepper

• 4 skinless and boneless half chicken breasts or 8 small chicken thighs

Combine the soy sauce, orange juice, olive oil, honey, orange zest, ginger, scallions, garlic and chili pepper in a deep dish. Place the chicken in the marinade, refrigerate and let rest for 1-4 hours, turning the pieces occasionally. Preheat an outdoor grill or oven broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill for 5-8 minutes per side, depending on size and thickness, turning the pieces occasionally, or until cooked through.

Makes 4 servings

Grilled Crispy Pineapple

Grilled Pineapple

If you’ve never tasted grilled pineapple, you’ve missed a real treat.

Cut into thick slices, it’s a fabulous side dish for dinners of grilled or roasted chicken, lamb, duck or fish.

But it has a sort of rum-like flavor, so I also think of it as a “solid cocktail.” Which makes it the perfect accompaniment to such items as grilled chicken wings and other savory nibbles. In that case, cut the large slices into cubes and skewer the chunks onto toothpicks.

OR — this dish is so versatile — top each slice with whipped cream, ice cream or sweetened mascarpone cheese (garnish with some chopped pistachios or mint) and use it as a dessert.

Any way at all — you can’t go wrong.

Grilled Pineapple

• One whole pineapple

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, vegetable oil, melted butter or a mixture of these

• 2 tablespoons orange juice

• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel

• sea salt

• mint for garnish, optional

Cut the leaves off the pineapple. Remove the outer fibrous rind. Cut the peeled pineapple in slices about 3/4-inch thick. Set aside in a single layer in a pan. Heat the brown sugar, coconut oil, orange juice and orange peel in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the pineapple slices, turning the pieces to coat both sides. Let macerate for about 45 minutes. Preheat an outdoor grill to medium (or use a grill pan or the oven broiler). Grill the slices for about 4 minutes per side or until well glazed and tender, brushing occasionally with some of the liquid. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Garnish with fresh mint if desired.

Makes 6 servings

Burnt Ends! Let the Grilling Begin

I'm not a big brisket fan. Not when it's braised and swimming in liquid anyway, and I realize that it is an almost heretical thing for a Jewish woman to admit. But there it is.

However -- SouthWest style brisket? With barbecue sauce and dark, crusty burnt ends?

Oh yes! Love that. And now that grilling season has arrived (at least here in Connecticut), I can have some!

Briskets were on sale recently at Fairway supermarket, so I bought a whole, gigantic piece and cooked it with a new recipe for barbecue sauce.

SO good. 

Really.

The instructions on how to cook brisket before grilling it are here.

Here's the recipe for the barbecue sauce. Keep slathering it on the meat. If you make a smaller hunk, you can keep the rest of the sauce in the refrigerator for a few weeks.

Applesauce and Tomato Barbecue Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped chili pepper
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup apple sauce
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon chili powder

Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chili pepper and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until softened. Add the tomato sauce, apple sauce, honey, cider vinegar, soy sauce and chili powder and stir until the ingredients are well blended. Simmer the sauce for 25-30 minutes, or until thickened.

Makes about 2-1/2 cups

I Hate Going on a Diet

I hate going on a diet.

The thing is, I like food. I like to eat. It's not even that I have a sweet tooth and consume too many doughnuts or that I drink soda (haven't had one for decades).

I just like regular food. 

And unfortunately, last year I ate a lot more of it than usual. Stress eating. It was a difficult year.

I gained TEN pounds.

That's a lot.

My children tell me I am not allowed to use the word "fat" because of "shaming."

So I suppose plump and chubby are off limits too.

I am supposed to say that I don't like how I look.

OK.

I don't like how I look.

Unfortunately my son-in-law Greg said he read an article that said women who go on diets and lose weight tend to re-gain the weight plus more.

OY!

Just in time -- comes THIS: The JoyofKosher 28 Day Challenge.

This is a four week diet plan of the most scrumptious non-diet sounding, most gorgeous food you ever saw in a weight loss plan. 

Check out the photos. The first for Grilled Fennel with toasty, crunchy quinoa seeds. The second for an avocado and egg-filled portobello mushroom cap that is so easy I am going to make it when my cousins come to sleep over in a few weeks.

This is not your ordinary "diet food."

It's good food, coming to you via two good friends of mine: Jamie Geller, cookbook author and founder, JoyofKosher, and Tamar Genger, a registered dietitian and professor of nutrition.

Have a look, even if you aren't on a diet. Even if you aren't kosher.

Here's what it is: When you sign up you get the menu plan for 28 days, plus a shopping list, plus 75 recipes with vegetarian and gluten-free substitutes (in a downloadable pdf file), plus nutritional info, plus tips, plus a Facebook page where you can discuss food stuff with other people on the challenge, plus --- go ahead and click the link and you'll see it all. For $28.

It's not a crazy diet. Just a simple plan, great, healthy, delicious food, easy, doable recipes with lovely photos and so much more. 

Inspiring.

Sounds like a plan. I'm determined to like the way I look.

GRILLED FENNEL AND TOASTED QUINOA (from JoyofKosher 28 Day Challenge)

Servings 6

Fennel is high in potassium and loaded with other nutrients that have been found to improve bone health.

Ingredients:

2 fennel bulbs, sliced

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1⁄4 cup fresh herbs like basil, parsley, and thyme and some fennel fronds

Zest and juice of 1 lemon 1⁄4 cup raw quinoa

1. Trim fennel bulbs by removing stalks and fronds (set aside fronds to mix with herbs).

2. Cut off any hard inedible outer layers.
3. With your fennel bulb upright, cut 1⁄4-inch slices vertically.
4. Brush each side using 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5. Place slices on a medium hot grill, turning until you get a nice char on each side and fennel is tender to the touch. Alternatively, place on a baking pan and broil until charred.

6. Whisk together remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, herbs, and lemon juice and zest, adding salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle all over fennel.

7. Meanwhile, toast quinoa: Rinse well, drain, and pour into a medium sauté pan. Stir grains over medium-high heat. Watch as quinoa dries out and begins to brown and even pop—that’s how you know it is ready. Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.

8. Sprinkle toasted quinoa over fennel and serve warm or at room temperature. Nutritional Information / Per Serving

110 calories, 7g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 67mg sodium, 10g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, 3g sugar, 2g protein 

Grilled Lamb Kebabs

Lamb Kebabs

'Tis the season to be grilling.

Finally.

After a long, cold, snowy winter that seemed as if it were going to last forever, I didn’t even mind spending over an hour cleaning the grill. Btw, along those lines, let me recommend Greased Lightning, a product that is the most amazing cleaner there is (please don’t tell me if it’s toxic, carginogenic or anything else horrendous because this stuff is so wonderful I can’t imagine not using it).

So I’m ready for Memorial Day weekend, when my cousins come, we sit and do nothing at all for three days and eat good warm weather food and grill almost every meal.

Here’s one of our weekend dishes:

Grilled Lamb Kebabs

• 1-1/2 pounds boneless lamb

• 3 tablespoons orange marmalade

• 2 tablespoons apricot jam

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

• 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh hot chili pepper

• salt to taste

Place the lamb in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the marmalade, jam, mustard, garlic, ginger, rosemary and chili pepper. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Mix well and spoon over the lamb. Toss the meat in the jam mixture to coat all the pieces. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Preheat an outdoor grill (or oven broiler). Thread the meat pieces onto 4 skewers. Grill for about 8-10 minutes, turning the kebabs occasionally, or until nicely browned. (You can use an oven broiler.)

Makes 4 servings

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Remember that one chili pepper I was able to grow in my garden? Well, I don’t have much of a green thumb, but I did get a few more peppers this week, so I had to figure out ways to use them. I came up with this grilled pineapple salsa. I used it as a side dish for some grilled fish I made for dinner.

This salsa is just a bit hot and also is tangy (from the lime juice) and sweet, not just because of the honey, but also because grilling fruit brings out the sugars. And I have to add, that grilled pineapple tastes somewhat like rum, which is never a bad thing.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

1/2 large pineapple, skin removed, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 small red onion, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 small chopped chili peppers (such as serrano), deseeded and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Preheat an outdoor grill (or use a grill pan). Brush the the pineapple and onion slices with some of the vegetable oil. Grill the slices for 2-3 minutes per side or until browned and softened. Remove the slices, chop them into small pieces and place them in a bowl (discard the hard fibrous pineapple core). Add the peppers, parsley, mint, ginger, lime juice, honey and cumin and toss ingredients to distribute the ingredients evenly. Let rest at least 15 minutes before serving. Good with fish. Makes about 2 cups

Peach Whiskey Barbecue Sauce

 

These are outdoor grill days. Perfect weather, not too hot (yet), clear skies.

Last week a colleague and I were discussing his recipe for grilling brisket. And that led to several emails back and forth about homemade barbecue sauce. We both make Mango Barbecue Sauce. I wanted to cook barbecue sauce for the upcoming Father’s Day weekend but I needed to save all my mangoes for the grandchildren and I just couldn’t get myself to go back to the supermarket.

But I did have peaches. So I improvised and came up with a mildly spicy, mildly tangy Peach-Whiskey Barbecue Sauce. Used it on chicken, but it would probably work with just about any meat or poultry you might want to grill.

 

Peach Whiskey Barbecue Sauce

•      4 large ripe peaches
•       1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•       1 medium onion, finely chopped
•       1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
•       1 serrano pepper (or other small cili pepper), deseeded and chopped
•       1 cup ketchup
•       1/4 cup bourbon or rye whiskey
•       3 tablespoons cider vinegar
•       1/4 cup honey
•       1/2 teaspoon chili powder
•       salt to taste

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 12-15 seconds, drain and rinse under cold water. Peel the peaches and set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for one minute. Add the garlic and chili pepper and cook for another minute. Add the peaches, ketchup, whiskey, cider vinegar, honey and chili powder. Stir to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Cook over low-medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until thickened. Let cool. Puree in a food processor. Taste for seasoning and add salt to taste.

Makes about 2-1/2 cups