Grilled Steak and Chicken Fajitas

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the fact that Cinco de Mayo is coming up this weekend. Although it isn't a holiday we really celebrate, I am always looking for an excuse to eat Mexican food and drink Mexican drinks. These fajitas are a great way to celebrate both the holiday, and the fact that grilling season has returned.

I was initially going to just make chicken fajitas, but then I remembered the box of steaks in my freezer and decided to do both. (Remind me to tell you sometime about the poor steak salesman who came to my house around dinner time on a night of solo parenting, who was bombarded with questions from my curious children for 30 minutes, who finally gave in and sold me 12 total sirloin and T-bone steaks for dirt cheap, I think just so he could escape my house.) I made two different marinades for the meat: a Southwestern ranch marinade for the chicken and a chipotle brown sugar one for the steak, so you're really getting two recipes for the price of one here. And they're both absolutely delicious!

Grilled Steak and Chicken Fajitas

For the chicken:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup ranch dressing

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon each chili powder, cumin, and salt

For the steak:

2 sirloin steaks (or you could use a flank steak)

1/2 cup olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 clove minced garlic

3 tablespoons chipotle in adobo puree (or the equivalent of chopped chipotles in adobo)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

For the fajitas:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large onion, halved and sliced

1 each red, green, and orange bell peppers, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup Mexican beer

Juice of half a lime

Flour tortillas

Shredded monterey jack, salsa, and sour cream for serving

1. Combine all ingredients for both marinades with the meats. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Let come to room temperature before grilling.

2. Grill chicken and steak until chicken is cooked through and steak is cooked to desired doneness. Let rest before slicing.

3. While the meat is cooking, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and bell peppers, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and peppers are slightly softened. Add garlic; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium and add beer, stirring until reduced. Remove from heat and sprinkle with lime juice.

4. Serve chicken and steak in flour tortillas, topped with the pepper mixture, shredded cheese, salsa, and sour cream.

Grilled Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Besides the fact that we've only had a few days of true spring weather around here, we've been grilling out frequently. Last night, after Joe brought in the food from the grill, Andrew told him, "Daddy, I want you to grill every day." I of course have no complaints about this, because any time I can pass the main portion of cooking a meal off on someone else, I'm happy. I was not so happy about the fact that Andrew told my mother-in-law that Daddy cooks all of our meals when he was asked (NOT TRUE). Oh, kids.

This chicken was one of the first things to grace our grill this year, and it was fabulous. I was skeptical about the fact that the chicken only stayed in the marinade for 3 minutes, but I was so surprised by how much flavor it got during that short amount of time. And the salsa is so simple, but so unbelievably good. I used some sweet little multi-colored cherry tomatoes, and I thought they made the salsa look so pretty. I think the salsa would be delicious on just about anything, but it really did pair perfectly with the chicken in both texture and flavor. This was such a simple, flavorful, and healthy meal, and even the boys gobbled it up. Win!

Grilled Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

barely adapted from Cooking Light April 2009, also found on myrecipes

For the chicken:

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the avocado salsa:

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 avocado, pitted and chopped

1. To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.

2. To prepare salsa, combine tomato, onion, lime juice and salt in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.

Grilled Pesto Chicken with Tomato Cream Penne

Sometimes I really wish we lived in a location where it was possible to grill year-round. I mean, I know that's what grill pans were invented for...but using a grill pan just isn't the same as cooking on an outdoor grill. But it's hard to cook on an outdoor grill when it's 30 degrees and snowing outside. Such is the plight of Midwestern life.

I love grilling not only because it's a delicious and relatively healthy cooking method, but also because it means that half of the dinner cooking work is my husband's job. And he doesn't complain about it one bit; in fact, he loves to grill. On the night I made this, he took charge of the chicken, while I handled the simple pasta and sauce. And either we're a great cooking team or this is just an awesome recipe (I think it's both!), because this meal was amazing. Absolutely delicious. I can't believe I'd never considered adding pesto to a marinade before, but you can rest assured I'll be doing it constantly from now on. The pesto gave the chicken such a wonderful, earthy flavor, which was nice with the bright flavor of the lemon. The chicken paired perfectly with the creamy tomato sauce. This was a hit with the entire family, and I'll be making it every grilling season from now on for sure!

Grilled Pesto Chicken with Tomato Cream Penne

adapted from Plain Chicken

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup Italian dressing

1/4 cup prepared pesto

Juice of 1 lemon

1 pound penne pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 14.5-ounce can tomato sauce

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons prepared pesto

Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a plastic bag or sealable container, mix together Italian dressing, pesto, and lemon juice. Add chicken and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, up to overnight (the longer, the better). Grill the chicken until cooked through.

2. While the chicken is cooking, cook the penne in boiling salted water until al dente; drain.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until softened. Add garlic; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Stir in chicken stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Heat to boiling, then add tomato sauce and heavy cream. Add sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook and stir until sauce is slightly thickened. Stir in the pesto and heat through.

4. Gently stir the pasta into the sauce. Top each serving with sliced chicken.

Grilled Chicken Caesar Flatbreads

Last month, I hosted my cooking club at our house for Greek food. The main course (which I was responsible for making, as the hostess) was grilled chicken gyros, so I bought a bunch of flatbreads at the bakery to serve them in. But I misjudged how much my friends eat, I guess, because after they left, I realized that I had a lot leftover. I knew I had to use them for something, and this is what I came up with.

This dinner is one of the simplest, most delicious meals we've eaten lately. The chicken is marinated in Caesar dressing, then grilled, and placed on grilled flatbreads along with a pile of Caesar salad. It's so incredibly easy, and so incredibly tasty. The chicken is succulent and flavorful because of the Caesar marinade, and grilling the flatbreads gives them great texture and a nice smoky flavor. It's a perfect summer meal, since it adds no heat to the kitchen. Mark my words, I'll be making these a lot this summer!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Flatbreads

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup Caesar dressing, plus more for the salad

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Chopped romaine lettuce

Parmesan cheese

6 flatbreads

1. Combine 1 cup dressing, lemon juice, and Worcestershire in a plastic container or a large resealable plastic bag. Add chicken; seal container and marinate at least 2 hours, up to overnight.

2. Heat grill to medium-high heat and grill chicken until cooked through. For the last couple minutes of cooking, add flatbreads and grill each side until marked and slightly crispy. Let chicken rest, then slice on an angle.

3. Combine romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing, and Parmesan cheese. Add some of the salad mixture to each flatbread. Top with sliced chicken. Serve immediately.

Grilled Chicken Tacos with Green Apple Salsa

Every March, it happens. No matter how mild the winter was, I’m done with it. I’m ready for spring. I’m ready for flowers, sunshine, evenings spent entirely outdoors, and fresh fruits and vegetables. And the grill. I am very, very ready for dinner cooked on the grill.

One day a couple of weeks ago, I suddenly got it in my head that I wanted to make a Mexican-flavored grilled chicken with an apple salsa on top. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and even as I put it on our weekly menu, it was still coming together in my head. The results were absolutely amazing. The spicy, flavorful marinade made the chicken so tender, and the crisp apple salsa on top was the perfect textural contrast. The salsa itself had a great balance of spicy and sweet elements and was just incredible when paired with the chicken. At the last minute, I decided to slice the chicken and serve it in tacos. It was delicious that way, but would have been incredible all by itself too.

Grilled Chicken Tacos with Green Apple Salsa

For the chicken:

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons taco seasoning (or 1 store-bought envelope)
1 teaspoon sugar

For the salsa:

3 Granny Smith apples, diced
Juice of 2 limes
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of salt

Flour tortillas

1. In a large bowl, combine oil, lime juice, vinegar, taco seasoning, and sugar. Add chicken, coating all sides evenly with the marinade. Cover and marinate for one hour, up to overnight. I marinated mine for about 26 hours (due to a last-minute change of dinner plans the night I’d planned to make this) and it was perfect.

2. When ready to eat, preheat a grill or grill pan to high heat. Add chicken and cook until cooked through.

3. While the chicken is cooking, combine all of the salsa ingredients in a small bowl.

4. Slice chicken and portion into flour tortillas. Top with salsa.

Balsamic Grilled Chicken with Mozzarella and Pesto

This weather we’ve been having is completely ridiculous, in a really awesome way. We’re projected to have record HIGHS here in Ohio today, and I’m loving it. While I do wish it wasn’t quite so hot already (86 degrees!!!), I’m certainly not going to complain.

The weather has me thinking about grilling, so I thought this grilled chicken recipe would be the perfect thing to share with you today. It’s so simple, and it tastes absolutely amazing. Chicken breasts are marinated in balsamic vinegar, then grilled, then topped with fresh mozzarella, pesto, and a balsamic reduction. Those are literally the only ingredients in the recipe (you don’t even need salt and pepper!), and you won’t believe how delicious this is. The vinegar keeps the chicken moist and gives it tons of flavor, and the gooey mozzarella and earthy pesto are the perfect complements. If you’re looking for a recipe to break in your grill this season, this is it!

P.S. I served this with steamed asparagus, and the balsamic reduction was amazingly delicious on that too. Highly recommended!

Balsamic Grilled Chicken with Mozzarella and Pesto
slightly adapted from Stephanie Cooks

4 chicken breasts
1 cup balsamic vinegar, divided
1 8-ounce ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced into 8 slices
Prepared pesto

1. Place the chicken breasts and 1/2 cup of the balsamic vinegar in a large bowl. Make sure the chicken is evenly coated and marinate for no more than an hour. Any longer than that, and the acid in the vinegar could affect the texture of the chicken.

2. Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill to high heat. Grill the chicken until cooked through.

3. Meanwhile, pour the remaining 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cook until the vinegar is reduced, thickened, and syrupy, about 15 minutes.

4. When the chicken is cooked, top each breast with 2 slices of fresh mozzarella. Broil until the cheese is melted. Top each breast with a spoonful of pesto, then drizzle each with the balsamic reduction.

Greek Grilled Chicken Orzo Salad

This, right here, is the kind of food I crave. Lots of people crave sweets (and that happens to me occasionally), but I usually crave things that are tangy, sour, and savory. That bowl of food, right there? It’s my idea of perfection.

For weeks, I couldn’t get my mind off of a gigantic Greek salad with all the fixins: cucumber, red onion, feta, a tangy vinaigrette. I finally got around to putting it on our menu, but when I spotted some orzo in the cupboard, I decided to make a pasta salad rather than a traditional lettuce-based one. I basically emptied out the fridge and the pantry with this one, composing the salad with what I had on hand: half a cucumber, a couple of handfuls of feta crumbles, a can of green olives, half a red pepper and half a red onion. I also stirred in some chicken that I marinated and grilled, and topped it all off with a tangy, slightly sweet red wine vinaigrette.

This was so incredibly good, I can’t even begin to explain it. Even the boys ate more than their share. The char on the chicken added such wonderful flavor to the salad. The wonderful thing about orzo is that it plumps up so much when you cook it, so just using a couple of cups yielded enough pasta salad for me to take the leftovers for lunch for the rest of the week. Some baby spinach would be delicious stirred in here too.

Greek Grilled Chicken Orzo Salad

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
Juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups orzo
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 cups pitted green olives, sliced (you could use black or kalamata, but I prefer the flavor and brininess of the green; these are our favorite)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, oregano, and salt and pepper. Add chicken and toss to combine. Cover and marinate at least 30 minutes. Grill chicken until cooked through, then dice.

2. Meanwhile, cook orzo according to package directions in boiling salted water; drain in a fine mesh strainer. Rinse with cold water, drain again, and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining 1/2 cup olive oil, the red wine vinegar, the honey, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Set aside.

4. To assemble the salad, stir together the orzo, chicken, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, tomatoes, olives and feta. Pour vinaigrette over salad and toss to combine. Refrigerate until serving.

One year ago: Broccoli, salami, and mozzarella pizza pockets

Orange BBQ Chicken

I ask you, who doesn’t love a delicious piece of barbecued chicken, cooked to smoky perfection on the grill? The recipe I’m sharing today puts a spin on traditional BBQ chicken by adding the flavors of orange and honey. It’s smoky, sweet, tangy perfection.

The boys and I liked this way more than Joe did, to be completely honest. He’s not a huge fan of citrus in savory dishes (or lemon in just about anything, including sweets, because he’s insane), so he thought this was way too orange-y. The boys and I loved it, though, and I will definitely be making it again.

Orange BBQ Chicken
adapted from Sweet Peas and Pumpkins

Juice of 2 oranges (about 1/3 cup)
Zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts

1. In a glass 9 x 13 dish or large bowl, mix all ingredients except the chicken. Stir well to fully combine. Add the chicken and move around in the dish or bowl to ensure total coating. Marinate at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.

2. Preheat indoor or outdoor grill. Cook chicken until completely cooked through, brushing with additional marinade while grilling.

Mexican Hot Dogs

Frankly (ha ha), I don’t think hot dogs really need to be dressed up. They are what they are, and, charred to perfection and topped with ketchup and mustard, I think they’re pretty much perfect. However, whenever I do get the urge to dress up a hot dog, this is the perfect way to do so. In this recipe they’re wrapped in bacon and topped with grilled jalapenos, onions, and a quick guacamole. They. are. delicious.

As you can see in the picture, my grillmaster husband didn’t quite grill the hot dogs long enough, because the bacon didn’t get nearly as crispy as I would have liked it to. I actually ended up unwrapping the bacon and eating the hot dog without it -- *gasp*. Joe has been instructed to make sure the bacon is crispy the next time we have these. If you’re worried about the same thing happening to you, you could definitely fry the bacon indoors and just lay a strip of it on top of each prepared hot dog.

Next time I’ll add some shredded cheese and salsa, too, which I’ve noted in the recipe below. These may be a little bit more complicated than a standard ketchup-and-mustard dog, but they’re definitely worth the time.

Mexican Hot Dogs
slightly adapted from Coconut and Lime

1 large white onion, sliced
6-8 jalapenos, halved and seeded
4 hot dogs
4 strips thick cut bacon
1 avocado
1 tablespoon sour cream
Juice of 1 lime
Cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded cheese and salsa for topping, if desired

1. Prepare grill. Lightly oil a grilling pan and arrange the peppers and onions in a single layer. Grill the onions and peppers until softened, flipping occasionally.

2. Wrap the hot dogs in bacon. Secure with toothpicks if needed and place on grill. Grill the hot dogs until the bacon is fully cooked.

3. While hot dogs are cooking, mash avocado. Stir in sour cream, lime juice, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Place the hot dogs in buns or rolls and top with toppings.

Bacon Ranch Foil Packet Potatoes

I love using our grill for a couple of reasons: 1. I can make almost anything on it, with very little fat, and it always tastes delicious; and 2. My husband handles the grill, so on the nights we use it very little is required of me. I mostly love it for the first reason, but when you’re as busy as I am, the second thing is definitely a bonus too.

One of my favorite things (of, admittedly, many) to cook on the grill is potatoes in a foil packet. The packets themselves are so easy to put together, and the flavor of the end product really is amazing. I especially love it when the potatoes at the bottom – the ones closest to the grill flame – get a little charred and stick to the foil. I love crispy potatoes, so my husband is always kind enough to let me have the ones in his packet, too. He’s a pretty good guy, that one.

Jessie gave me this idea in one of her recent meal plans. I’m no stranger to using bacon in my foil packet potatoes – my favorite version of them has bacon in it – but I loved loved loved the idea of also using ranch dressing mix. These turned out just the way I was hoping; they were absolutely delicious. You could definitely add whatever additional ingredients you want – onions, parmesan or cheddar cheese – but I was pleased with just the bacon and ranch seasoning, and a little bit of sour cream on top for serving.

The recipe below makes three packets, which is plenty for our family because my sons share one. I wonder how much longer I'll be able to get away with that? :)

Bacon Ranch Foil Packet Potatoes
adapted from Mrs. Ca Cooks

3 sheets of heavy-duty foil
10-12 baby red potatoes, thinly sliced
6 slices of cooked and crumbled bacon
1 packet ranch dressing mix
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
Sour cream for serving, if desired

1. Spray each sheet of foil with cooking spray. Top each piece with equal portions of potatoes, bacon, and ranch dressing mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to each serving. Wrap securely.

2. Grill for 20 to 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve in foil, topped with sour cream if desired.

Beer and Brown Sugar Pork Chops

 

I’ll just be honest: I don’t know a lot about beer. I know that I enjoy Corona with a couple of lime slices every once in a while, but that I much prefer fruity cold drinks to a bottle of beer. And I’m okay with my beer ignorance, really. I'll just be over here with my strawberry margarita.

My husband loves beer, though, and I knew he’d enjoy this recipe the instant it popped up in my Reader. The recipe calls for dark beer, so that’s exactly what I wrote on my grocery list. But then I got to the beer case and, well, I realized that I didn’t really know which beer to choose. There are exactly two beers that I know to be dark: Killian’s and Guinness. But since this recipe has an Asian spin, I didn’t know if those would be quite right. I finally settled on Jamaican Red Stripe Lager, figuring that the word “lager” meant that the beer would be dark.

Well…it wasn’t. But in the end, I really don’t think it mattered all that much. These pork chops were still intensely flavorful. The beer, soy sauce, and brown sugar in the marinade worked together to create a yeasty, salty, sweet flavor. As suspected, Joe loved these pork chops – and I didn’t think they were bad, either, despite the fact that they didn’t taste a bit like a strawberry margarita. :)

Beer and Brown Sugar Pork Chops
seen on Kitten with a Whisk and originally from Sam Zien

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 cup of dark beer
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 boneless pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick

1. Mix brown sugar, ginger, soy sauce, beer, and garlic together. Place chops in an airtight container and pour marinade over it. Make sure chops are fully submerged and refrigerate overnight.

2. Heat grill to medium high heat and grill chops for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn chops once halfway through. Chops are done when they are white throughout and firm, and the internal temp is 160 degrees.

Grilled Pesto Spread

This, my friends, is probably one of the easiest and most delicious recipes I’ve shared on the blog to date. It’s the perfect appetizer for your next summer cook-out (like…maybe for the Fourth of July this weekend? Hint hint!). It’s three ingredients – four if you count the crackers – and it comes together so simply and tastes so incredibly good. It’s basically a brick of cream cheese, topped with pesto and mozzarella, wrapped in foil, and grilled until the cream cheese is perfectly softened and the mozzarella is melted.

You could make this in the oven if you don’t have a grill, of course, but if you do have a grill – take advantage! Keep the heat out of your kitchen! I served the spread with crackers, but I could also get behind slathering it on slices of grilled French bread. Mmmm. I’m totally trying that next time.

(By the way, this cooking method would also work with cream cheese and pepper jelly – one of my favorite appetizers of all time.)

Grilled Pesto Spread
adapted from Kraft Foods

1 8-ounce package cream cheese (low-fat is fine)
1/4 cup pesto
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella or Italian-blend cheese
Crackers for serving

1. Heat the grill to medium heat.

2. Place unwrapped cream cheese on 8-inch square sheet of heavy-duty foil; top with pesto and shredded cheese.

3. Place foil on grill; cover with lid. Grill 8 to 10 minutes or until shredded cheese is melted and cream cheese is softened, but still holding its shape.

4. Transfer foil to platter. Serve spread with crackers.

Rosemary Ranch Chicken

Sorry I was quiet this week, but I’m back today with a recipe that you really must make for your Memorial Day cookout this weekend. If you’re anything like me, your favorite way to prepare chicken on the grill is to marinate it in Italian dressing. That’s how my mom made grilled chicken, and that’s how I’ve always done it. It’s simple and delicious and I was convinced that there couldn’t be anything better.

That is, until I saw this recipe. I first saw it on Ann’s blog, where she shared the recipe under the post title The Most Delicious Chicken in the Whole Wide World. How could I not try it after that?

This is honestly the best grilled chicken I’ve ever had. My whole family was blown away by the flavors. It’s succulent and amazing and it really may be the most delicious chicken in the whole wide world. You should totally try it this weekend and see for yourself. :)

Rosemary Ranch Chicken
ever-so-slightly adapted from Allrecipes

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
Skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or tenders (I used tenders because that’s what I had)

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (I marinated it overnight).

2. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill chicken until no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

Grilled BBQ Pepper-Jack Chicken

You know what’s ironic? Every single time we’ve planned to grill so far this year -– every single time -– we’ve been rained out. Our back porch is covered, so technically we could use the grill, but there’s something about rain that just doesn’t put a person in a cooking-out sort of mood.

That’s what happened to us, again, with this chicken. We’d planned to cook this on the outdoor grill, but due to the pouring rain I used the indoor grill instead. I think this would have been much better if it had the extra char and flavor from the grill, but it was still really good. As soon as I saw the recipe, I knew we’d love it; we’re suckers for anything barbecued, and pepper-jack cheese is one of our favorites. Next time I think I’ll incorporate bacon into this in some way, because as we all know, everything is better with bacon. I'll definitely make this again this summer, and hopefully the rain will let up long enough for me to cook it on the grill as it was intended!

Next week I’ll share the creamy peas and cheddar biscuits I made to go with this chicken. Those are both great recipes, so be sure to check back!

Grilled BBQ Pepper-Jack Chicken
source: slightly adapted from Eat at Home

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Grill seasoning to taste
BBQ sauce
4 pepper-jack cheese slices

1. Season both sides of chicken with grill seasoning. Grill the chicken until it's nearly done, then baste with BBQ sauce. Continue cooking until chicken is completely cooked through.

2. Top each chicken breast with a slice of cheese, letting it melt before removing the chicken from the grill.

Sweet BBQ Chicken Kabobs

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had fantastic long holiday weekends. I don’t know about you, but I think the Tuesday after a long weekend is so much worse than any Monday. Our weekend was so crazy, I feel like I need at least two days to recover from it! We had so much fun, though.

I have a really delicious chicken kabob recipe to share with you today. This recipe comes from The Sisters’ Café, which is one of my very favorite food blogs. There are five ladies who contribute, and they post yummy recipes so frequently it makes my head spin!

We all really enjoyed these chicken kabobs. I actually broiled them instead of grilling them because it was raining the day I made these (but then, what day isn’t it raining here lately?), and that worked fine, but next time I make them I’ll definitely grill them for the extra flavor. I’ve posted the original instructions below, since I only broiled them out of necessity.

I think our favorite part of these kabobs was the pineapple; it tasted so delicious doused in BBQ sauce, and it was a nice balance to the bell peppers and the chicken. With some rice pilaf on the side, these made for a quick, delicious, and simple dinner. It was affordable, too; I only used one large chicken breast, and I got seven kabobs out of it. I’ll definitely be making them again this summer!

Sweet BBQ Chicken Kabobs
source: slightly adapted from The Sisters’ Café

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks (1 1/2 inch)

1 each red and green bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

3 tablespoons orange juice

1. Heat grill to medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste and thread alternately with pineapple and peppers onto skewers to make kabobs.

2. Mix BBQ sauce and juice and brush some of the sauce mixture onto kabobs. Grill 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is done, turning and brushing occasionally with remaining sauce mixture.

Prosciutto Pork Kabobs

Oh, how I love prosciutto. I think I would eat its salty deliciousness with, in or on pretty much anything, but my favorite thing to pair it with is pork tenderloin. Something about the pork-pork combo really gets me. In the words of Emeril, pork fat just totally rules.

When I saw these kabobs combining prosciutto-wrapped pork pieces with zucchini and mushrooms, I was immediately smitten. Even though Joe over-cooked them just slightly (he got distracted with talking to our neighbor over the fence), they turned out to be just as delicious as I'd hoped. Because I never buy flavored oils (seriously, why spend the money when you can make your own so easily?), I used regular olive oil that I added a few cloves of crushed garlic to and cooked over low heat until the oil just started to bubble. The flavor infused perfectly.

Nothing screams "summer" like a grilled kabob, so this meal was a nice way to say goodbye to summer as we welcome the cooler weather.

Prosciutto Pork Kabobs
source: Better Homes and Gardens New Grilling Book

1/4 cup garlic-flavored olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 pound pork tenderloin
3 ounces thinly-sliced prosciutto
8 ounces fresh whole mushrooms, stems removed
2 small zucchini and/or yellow summer squash, cut into 3/4-inch thick slices
2 tablespoons finely shredded parmesan cheese

1. In a small bowl combine oil, lemon juice, and crushed red pepper; set aside.

2. Trim fat from pork. Cut pork into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Cut prosciutto into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips. Wrap a strip of prosciutto around each pork cube. On (metal or water-soaked wood) skewers, alternately thread pork cubes, mushrooms, and zucchini, leaving a 1/4-inch space between the pieces.

3. For a charcoal grill, grill kabobs on the greased grill rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 18 to 20 minutes or until pork is no longer pink and juices run clear, turning once halfway through grilling and brushing with the oil mixture during the last four minutes of grilling. (For gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place kabobs on grill rack over heat. Cover; grill as above.)

4. Just before serving, sprinkle kabobs with parmesan cheese.

Peach-Glazed Pork Chops with Grilled Peaches

One of the ingredients I've been really into lately is peaches. I just can't get enough of them in any way, shape or form (see: this pie). So when I saw this recipe in one of my Cooking Light cookbooks, I knew I wanted to try it.

I made some changes to the recipe to fit my time-frame and lifestyle, so if you want the original recipe just click the link below. The original calls for fresh peaches to be stewed in white wine for 30 minutes, then pureed and used as a marinade for the pork for at least 30 additional minutes before grilling -- but I just don't have that kind of time on a weeknight. Besides, I don't really want my toddler eating something that's been cooked in white wine, even if the alcohol has cooked out. I'm just not that progressive. So I used a plastic jar of peaches and skipped the first step all together, and marinated the pork in the mixture for about 20 minutes. And I was still very pleased with the end result. The peach marinade made the pork sweet and incredibly juicy, and the grilled peach slices on top really bumped up the fruity flavor. These grilled pork chops were delicious and summery, and this is something I would definitely make again.

Peach-Glazed Pork Chops with Grilled Peaches
source: adapted from The Best of Cooking Light; original recipe can be viewed here

1 plastic jar yellow cling peaches
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 center-cut pork chops, trimmed
1 peach, pitted and quartered
Cooking spray

1. Combine peaches, salt and black pepper, vinegar, maple syrup, chili powder, paprika, and red pepper in a food processor or blender; pulse to combine. Place half of peach mixture in a large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; reserve other half for basting. Add chops to bag; seal bag and refrigerate at least 20 minutes (up to 4 hours).

2. Preheat grill.

3. Remove pork from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle pork with salt and black pepper. Place pork and peach quarters on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill 10 minutes or until the pork is done and the peaches are tender, turning once. Baste pork and peach slices with the reserved peach mixture every 2 minutes during the first 6 minutes of cooking.

Summertime Hot Dogs with Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce

I have been wanting to make this barbecue sauce for probably about a month now. I mentioned this before, but it seems like every time I put this on the menu something happens and we haven't been able to make this dinner. Last night, though, we finally did!

I had high hopes for the sauce, especially considering my luck cooking with soda before, and it definitely did not disappoint. I love Dr. Pepper but I’m trying not to drink it very much since I'm pregnant, so this was the perfect way to indulge. The Dr. Pepper adds wonderful sweetness and a perfect molasses undertone to the sauce.

The recipe calls for the sauce to be pureed, but I skipped that step simply because it didn't bother me to have chunks of onion and garlic in my sauce. I topped my hot dogs with chopped pickles as Better Homes and Gardens suggested, and it was definitely delicious. We have a ton of sauce left over, which I can't wait to use to feed my barbecue cravings later in the week. We ate this with sweet corn on the cob (the first of the season), and it was the perfect summer supper.

Summertime Hot Dogs with Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce
source: Better Homes and Gardens

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 12-ounce can Dr Pepper
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 hot dogs
8 hot dog buns
Optional toppers: pickles, sliced jalapeño peppers, chopped onion

1. For sauce, in medium saucepan cook and stir onion and garlic in hot butter over medium heat about 10 minutes until onions are tender. Add all ingredients except hot dogs, buns, and toppers. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Cook, uncovered, until sauce begins to thicken, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool sauce 10 minutes.

2. Puree sauce in pan with immersion blender, or transfer to a blender jar, cover, and blend until smooth. (I skipped this step.)

3. Meanwhile, on grill cook hot dogs on rack directly over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until heated through. Serve hot dogs on buns with toppers.

Cheese-Stuffed Grilled Peppers

Without a doubt, Wednesday night is my favorite night of the week. That's grilling night at our house, and there is nothing I like to eat more in the summer than food fresh from the grill. Last night, we had chicken breasts marinated in Italian dressing and seasoned simply with salt and pepper, and to go with them, these delicious, cheesy, grilled stuffed peppers.

I saw these peppers in Food & Wine magazine quite a while ago, and ever since then I've been dying to try them. They were so good! The Cubanelle peppers provided just the right amount of heat, which balanced nicely with the sweet, creamy, gooey filling. They held up nicely on the grill; they maintained their crunch, and the filling stayed right where it was supposed to. I adapted the recipe to serve just Joe and me, but if you want the original recipe just click the link below. What a perfect, easy side dish these were. Joe told me, "This is definitely something we should make again," and I completely agree!

Cheese-Stuffed Grilled Peppers
Source: adapted from Food & Wine, April 2009

1/2 cup ricotta cheese
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 Cubanelle peppers
Olive oil for rubbing

1. In a medium bowl, blend the ricotta with the cream cheese and Parmesan. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

2. Light a grill or heat a grill pan. Using a small, sharp knife, remove the stems from the peppers and reserve. Cut around inside the peppers to detach the membranes and remove the seeds. Using a butter knife, fill the peppers with the cheese mixture and reattach the tops. Rub the peppers with olive oil.

3. Grill the peppers over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until blistered all over and the cheese filling is piping hot, about 7 minutes. Transfer the peppers to plates and serve.

Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I saw Ellie Krieger make these burgers on her Food Network show a couple of years ago, and they sounded like something I'd really enjoy. I completely forgot about them, but I was pleased to find them in her cookbook when I was looking through it recently. I've had it for a while and never cooked from it, but once I rediscovered these turkey burgers I knew I had to make them ASAP.

I made a compound mayonnaise to spread on the burgers, using the leftover roasted red pepper, some chopped flat-leaf parsley, and salt and pepper. Since the burgers themselves were already so healthy, I didn't feel too bad about butter-grilling the buns and spreading them with the mayonnaise. I'm glad I made those concessions, too, because without them I think the burgers might have been a little bland. Mozzarella is such a mild cheese that its flavor doesn't really come through. I'll surely make these again, but next time I may add some parmesan to the meat itself in addition to the mozzarella to give the burgers a little more flavor. I liked these burgers, though, and Joe did too -- and that's saying something, because he's always said that a burger made with turkey is not really a burger.

Stuffed Turkey Burgers
Source: The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger; recipe also found on Food Network's website

1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey breast
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers, divided
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Divide turkey into 4 equal sized rounds. Make 2 equal sized patties out of each round so you have 8 patties total.

2. Sprinkle 4 of the patties with 2 tablespoons each of roasted red peppers and cheese, and top with remaining patties, working the turkey around the edges to seal burgers closed. Season with salt and a few grinds of pepper.

3. Grill or broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.