chicken & vegetable kebabs

there's something about grilled meat. and grilled onions. and grilled mushrooms. i could eat them every day in the summer.

this recipe is so unbelievably easy, i don't know if i can really call it a recipe. marinate chicken in some vinaigrette for an hour. toss whatever vegetables you want to add to the skewers in the same vinaigrette. skewer and grill. easy as pie.

mix it up. change up the vinaigrette to whatever you like (use a favorite store bought version). add vegetables you like. i would avoid is zucchini and summer squash, simply because it becomes very soft and is likely to fall off the skewer while grilling.

don't care for meat or prefer a meatless meal? skip the chicken altogether and add some portabello mushrooms. they grill perfectly.

chicken & vegetable kebabs
marinade adapted from the joy of cooking
1 1/2 hours start to finish, three hearty servings

for the marinade:
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
~1/4 cup chives, or any other fresh herb you have handy
salt & pepper

for the kebabs:
1 pound chicken breasts or tenders, cut into bite size pieces
12 ounces mushrooms, cut in half
1 vidalia onion, quartered and wedges separated
2 green peppers, quartered and cut into pieces

1. make the marinade by combining the garlic and vinegar in a very large bowl (you're going to toss the vegetables in it later). slowly add the olive oil, whisking continuously to ensure it's incorporated. mix in the chives or other herbs you're using.
2. add the chicken to a zip top bag. pour half the marinade over it. seal the bag closed and make sure all the chicken pieces are coated. marinade for about 30 minutes.
3. while the chicken is marinating, prep the vegetables bu cleaning and cutting them to size.
4. prep the grill right before you skewer the kebabs.
5. when the chicken is done marinating, toss the vegetables with the remaining (unused) half of the marinade.
6. skewer the chicken and vegetables and grill about 5 minutes on each side, until the chicken is cooked. for the ultimate summer meal, serve with a side of salt potatoes.

peanut butter blondies

sometimes, at the end of the day, i want to trade in dinner for a fresh, homemade cookie.

i wish my story ended with a dinner of cookies. (don't tell me you've never done it before.) sadly, it ended with a grilled chicken salad. don't get me wrong, the salad was good, chicken perfectly grilled, but it was the cookie i really wanted.

so while i was supposed to be inside making a salad while jason mowed the lawn, i was half making a salad and half making these bars.

i don't know why i don't make blondies more often. honestly, this may be the very first time i made them. i was expecting a peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips in bar form. and i was ever so slightly disappointing.

"not enough peanut butter."

that was the first thing i said with my mouth half full of hot blondie. yes, they definitely taste like peanut butter. maybe my hopes were too high. and honestly, i almost always have the same criticism for peanut butter cookies. i've yet to meet one that had enough peanut butter.

peanut butter blondies
get the recipe at handle the heat

mint ice cream

when we moved in to our house last spring i was really excited to see the huge patches of spearmint and peppermint in our yard. as the summer went on, the mint grew and grew and grew and i couldn't think of anything good to make with it - except mojitos. i'm not a fan of mint tea, so that was out. and a year ago, i was still in wedding mode, so spending a friday evening steeping mint leaves in hot milk wasn't high on my list of priorities.

so this spring, when the mint started taking over again, i couldn't wait for it to be hot enough to make one of my favorite ice creams: mint chip. and i knew i wanted to make it from scratch - no mint extract here.

i found a couple different recipes that all used the same technique - steep the leaves in hot milk & sugar for about an hour before adding the egg yolks, cooking, and eventually churning in the ice cream maker. the technique seemed simple enough. it was the chocolate and the mint i was afraid of.

see, i don't like big chunks of chocolate in my ice cream. chocolate chips - of any size - were out. i didn't want to spend the time to shave a bar of chocolate and the flecks would actually be too small for my liking. i'm really glad i stumbled on david lebovitz's chocolate method. it was genius: perfectly simple and the perfect amount of chocolate.

now on to the mint. which do i use? peppermint or spearmint or both? i found recipes of all types online - some recommended spearmint only, others recommended peppermint and to avoid spearmint, and a third set didn't say one way or the other. i decided this time to try spearmint with a plan to make a peppermint batch later in the summer for comparison sake.


before (L) and after (R) steeping the mint for an hour

now that i had my mint picked out and chocolate technique down, i needed a recipe. i liked his chocolate technique so much and everyone in the blogosphere raves about his ice cream, so i gave david lebovitz's a spin. perfection.


my steeped milk was a natural light green

the big difference between homemade mint ice cream and store bought is obviously the flavor. store bought mint is so strong and sweet. homemade mint is definitely minty, but it's got a nice herbal flavor to it too. and not too sweet. surprisingly, i like it better than the stuff from the store.

mint chocolate ice cream
find the recipe from david lebovitz

electric lemonade

about this time last summer, after walking and biking i don't know how many miles of the erie canal, we finally took a boat down it.

it wasn't anything too exciting; just a nice way to kill a lazy, hot summer afternoon. although the canal was trying real hard to be the star of the show, it just couldn't get out of the shadow of the lemonade.

it was blue. it was lemon. and it was strong. two of these and you're definitely not doing anything but laying in a hammock for the rest of the afternoon. we all had a round, sailed down the canal, and finished our afternoon with beer and grilled meat outside. the lemonade whisked out of memory.

flash forward a couple weeks to jason's birthday. we were making plans, deciding what food to make for the party, when out of nowhere, he decided he didn't want anything to drink but a recreation of the lemonade. so this is not my drink. it's not my creation. it's totally his. so last july while i was desperately trying to make a mojito from the mint in our backyard, jason was whipping up these electric lemonades like it was his job.

you should have seen his eyes light up last friday when i suggested - and then made - them for us.

jason's electric lemonade
makes one

handful of ice
~1 shot vodka
~1 shot blue curacao
lemonade powder mix
lemonade

add a handful of ice to a tall glass. add the blue curacao and vodka. add a small amount (~1/2 teaspoon) lemonade powder mix and top off with lemonade. enjoy your glass of summer sunshine!

black bean tacos

meatless dinners can be surprisingly difficult. mostly because i tend to default to the same things: pasta and eggs.

it's time for something new. time to kick it up a notch. time for beans.

whenever i have a choice, i always pick black beans over pinto beans. they seem to have a heartier taste and texture. pinto beans always seem to fall apart and turn into mush, where black beans keep their shape. so black beans it is.

choosing black beans was the easy part. what to do with them? regular tacos seemed plain. i wanted something different. black beans, rice, and cheese sauce sounded perfect.

and it was.

there are a couple things i might do different next time. swap flour tortillas for the corn ones used. corn tortillas always fall apart when you try to roll and pick them up to eat, so they aren't the best choice for tacos. i bet a hearty spoonful of chunky salsa or homemade guacamole would be perfect on to top them off. that's the one thing they're missing - a little brightness. the beans, rice, and cheese are so heavy, a dash of raw vegetables would be great on top.

black bean tacos
adapted from kitchen sojourn
40 minutes start to finish, 4 average servings

1 cup uncooked white rice
1 medium sized onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5 ounce cans black beans, rinsed
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup half n half
4 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded or cut into small pieces
12 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded or cut into small pieces
salt & pepper
olive oil
corn tortillas

1. cook the rice according to your package directions (add rice and 2 cups water to a pan. bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes).
2. heat a saute pan over medium heat and add about a teaspoon of olive oil. saute the onion and garlic until translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. add the beans and 1/2 cup water to the onion & garlic and cook about 10 minutes. season with salt & pepper and add the cumin. reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cheese sauce and rice are done.
4. heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the half & half. when it's warm, add the cheese a bit at a time, making sure it's melted and the cheese or half & half aren't burning.
5. warm the tortillas in the microwave. layer the rice, beans, and cheese sauce in the tortilla and serve.

teriyaki chicken kebobs

finally! dust off your grills and stock up on charcoal. it's finally time to fire up the grill!

not that we haven't been for the last couple weeks. it's just that the weather in may is so fickle. the one thing you can count on is that the good weather won't last and you can't really plan for anything. which stinks if you want to grill after work. especially if you want to marinate something in the morning and grill it that night.

but june. june is different. the first half of june is all rain. rain in the middle of the night. rain in the middle of the day. while i love it for my garden, i hate it for keeping me held hostage inside.

last week we had a break from the rain. and i took full advantage of it.

i was already sick of burgers on the grill. and hot dogs aren't worth all the fuss. i love grilled onions, and since jason loves anything and everything asian, these teriyaki chicken kebabs fit the bill perfectly.

i mixed up the marinade and cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces the night before i planned to grill them and let the chicken marinate for about 20 hours. i know, i know, most cookbooks suggest three to six hours. but really, who is home in the middle of the day during the week to put their chicken in the marinade? not me. and it was perfectly fine after almost a day.

and really i only made a few slight changes to the recipe. i didn't have any open white wine, so i substituted water. easy exchange. like the original poster, i also keep a good sized piece of peeled ginger in my freezer. ginger is cheap, but i always forget to buy it when i need it. this way i always have it. but instead of thinly slicing it, i grate it with my fine microplane (the zester). works perfectly every time. i also didn't pour the marinade over the chicken (or baste it) as the kebabs were grilling. i avoid basting cooked food with liquid that had raw meat in it. it freaks me out (and probably doesn't help that on the next food network star last season someone, i don't remember who, got in big trouble because they suggested basting meat with a marinade).

see those perfectly caramelized chicken pieces and sweet onion slices? i may have put them together, but it was jason who pulled it off by cooking them perfectly. i gotta give credit where it's due.

i can't wait to use the marinade on grilled chicken breasts. or as a stir fry sauce.

teriyaki chicken kebobs
find the original recipe at Sortachef
30 minutes active time, serves two

for the teriyaki marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons minced or grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced

for the kebabs:
~1 pound chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium sized yellow onion (i bet red would be good too)

1. at least three hours and up to 24 hours before you plan to grill, make the teriyaki marinade by combining all ingredients. place the marinade in a zip top bag and place the chicken inside. seal the bag and make sure the chicken is evenly distributed and each piece is in the marinade. refrigerate until you're ready to grill.
2. on grill day, heat your grill to medium high.
3. slice the onion into relatively large slices. skewer the chicken and onion (be sure to soak wooden skewers in water for about an hour ahead of time so they don't catch on fire on the grill).
4. grill about 7 minutes, flip and grill an additional 7 or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

soy glazed cod with zucchini

i can't believe i paid $1.75 for 2 zucchinis. correction: i can't believe i paid for zucchini.

last summer i made the critical i-just-bought-a-house-and-i'm-super-excited-to-have-a-garden mistake and planted six - yes, six - zucchini plants. and for about three months i was picking zucchinis every day, sometimes five at a time. until finally, there was a frost. and i gave up and declared zucchini season over (by stomping on the plants). all in all, i picked about 200 of those suckers. i had so many i couldn't give them away. my coworkers knew not to buy zucchinis because in the next day or two, i'd bring in another pile.

so jason was a little shocked when he asked me what his list was when we went to the grocery store. he didn't say a word when i asked him for two zucchinis - and the only response when he came back with them - "can you imagine if we got $1 for every zucchini we grew last summer?! we'd be rich!!!"

i should have passed on them. don't get me wrong, sauteed zucchini is a perfectly good side. it's just that those from the store aren't ever as good as the ones grown in your own yard. but since i just planted my zucchini plants on monday, i settled with the store.

but enough about the zucchini, the fish is the star of this dish. light and flaky, perfectly cooked in 7 minutes, and with a sweet glaze, it was the perfect dinner for an evening that finally felt like summer!

soy glazed cod with sauteed zucchini
adapted from real simple, june 2010
20 minutes start to finish, 2 generous servings

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons grated ginger (i used my microplane)
2 six ounce fillets cod or other white fish
2 small zucchinis, thinly sliced
canola oil
salt, pepper, crushed red pepper

1. heat broiler (set oven to 500F). line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, and ginger in a bowl and set aside.
3. heat a saute pan over medium heat. add ~1 teaspoon canola oil and the zucchinis. saute for about 10 minutes, or until softened. season with salt, pepper, and a little crushed red pepper flakes.
4. while the zucchini is sauteing, place the fish on the foil lined sheet. drizzle with canola oil.
5. broil the fish for about 5 minutes. spread about half of the glaze over the fish. broil another minute, add the remainder of the glaze, and broil one more minute (for a total of 7). check to ensure fish is done - it should be opaque and flaky.
6. serve the fish with a side of zucchini.