Chipotle Marinated Chicken with Black Bean Salsa

I love it when we can actually get our act together and marinade something longer than 20 minutes. The result is always worth the wait! If you haven't noticed, I definitely have developed a new special spot in my heart (and blog!) for canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (tends to be found with the mexican food).  I'm telling you, these chiles are so darn delicious and somehow very 'authentic' tasting. A chipotle chile is a smoked, ripe, jalapeno pepper. They're pretty spicy so you may want to taste the sauce first before loading it in to your food. This particular dish can be made with either pork or chicken. The black bean accompaniment is pretty tasty! Enjoy and ...   bon appétit!


Ingredients
For The Pork/chicken
1 canned chipotle chile, in adobo sauce
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup coarsely chopped white onion
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat

For The Salsa
1 can (19 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chile, in adobo sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch of vinegar

Directions
1. Make the meat marinade: Process chile, garlic, onion, lime juice, vinegar, and oregano in a blender until smooth. Rub marinade all over the pork/chicken. Transfer to a dish, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a grill pan over high heat. Grill meat until seared on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer pan to the oven; cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of meat registers 145 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes. Let pork stand at room temperature 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

3. Meanwhile, make the salsa: Stir together the black beans, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, chile, and cumin in a small bowl. Serve with the yummy meat! Enjoy :)

- recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Fresh Guacamole

This is a recipe for chicken tacos spiced up with chipotle peppers and topped with a cool guacamole sauce. Again, really, really yummy. A good idea if you happen to end up with left over chicken from another meal. We BBQ'ed our chicken before hand so it had some of that great smokey flavour as well. ENJOY! And, as always ... Bon appétit :)


Ingredients (6 servings)
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 chipotle chiles in Adobo, seeds scraped out, minced, plus 1 tablespoon of the Sauce
3 cups cooked chicken, rough chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon salt & fresh black pepper
1/4 cup water
Tortillas/shells
Your choice of fixin's: sour cream, cheese, diced lettuce, tomato, onion, salsa, lime wedges, salsa etc.

Guacamole:
2 avocadoes, halved, pitted, flesh removed
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1-2 crushed pieces of garlic

1/2 cup tomato, diced
1/3 cup yellow onion, finely diced
2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Saute the onion in oil until translucent, add garlic and saute until fragrant, add chipotles and saute for a minute or two.

2. Add chicken, oregano, chile powder, salt, pepper, and water. Mix well and heat over medium-low heat about 8 - 10 minutes, stirring often.  You may have to play around with the spices until you get it right... sorry, those are approximations on the spices!

3. Serve in heated tortillas with fixin's.

Chicken Fettuccine with Pesto Cream Sauce

Oh my is this ever an amazing dish.  So pro-star too. You will be so impressed with yourself it's not even funny. I recently posted a yummy pesto recipe too, or you could also pick some up from the grocery store (I of course, highly suggest you make your own though). In Ottawa, you can get great fresh basil this time of year at Nicastros in the Glebe.  Much better tasting (and priced!) in my opinion than the usual tiny sprigs you can buy at the grocery stores. Bon appétit!

ps - My camera battery had died the day I made up this dinner, so you get the beautiful Martha picture to go along with this recipe too.

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound fettuccine
1/2 cup basil pesto
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:
1. Place chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap. With a meat mallet or heavy skillet, pound chicken to an even 3/4-inch thickness. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet; cook the chicken until golden brown and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Slice each piece across the grain into 4 or 5 strips; cover to keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking water. Drain pasta and return to pot.

4. In a small saucepan, heat pesto over low until liquefied. Stir in cream; heat until warm. Toss pasta with reserved cooking water and half the sauce. Divide among shallow bowls; top with chicken. Drizzle with remaining sauce.

- recipe cred to Martha 

Chicken Stuffed with Spinach & Ricotta

You will feel like a pro-star making this chicken, believe you me. Truly pro-star. This recipe is adapted from a Food Network recipe book that I picked up a couple of years back that has a 'mix and match' stuffed chicken recipe where you can mix up different potential stuffing ingredients (ex. cheese/tomato, feta/olive etc.). I definitely love this spinach and ricotta blend. It's so tasty. So, so tasty. I have made this recipe before using goat cheese instead of ricotta and both are delicious. To save some cooking time, you can pan-fry your chicken for a couple of minutes on each side before baking it. Bon appétit!


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups freshly chopped spinach (or 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed)
1/2 cup ricotta cheese or 1/2 cup goat cheese
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix ricotta/goat cheese, garlic, spinach, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; stir well to combine. Set filling aside.

2. Insert a pairing knife into the thickest part of 4 6-8oz chicken breasts (boneless skinless) to make 3" deep pockets. Stuff the breasts with your prepared filling. Rub olive oil on outsides of chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper.

3. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; roast until chicken is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. Another option is to pan-fry the chicken for 2-3 minutes each side (with toothpicks to stabilize) and then bake for about 15 minutes. Important thing is to check that your chicken is cooked to a minimum of 155F inside. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Moroccan Spiced Chicken

I love, love, love playing around with spice mixtures. I also love it when I can find a recipe that uses cardamom. Who doesn`t love getting out the mortar and pestle?  This recipe uses an absolute plethora of moroccanish spices and the end result is so yummy. I am home recovering from another round of back surgery and have my mum looking after me. It was a lot of fun to make this dish together. We paired it with some super tangy Moroccan eggplant (recipe to follow!). Yum. We altered this recipe a tad so that you have some left-over marinade to serve with the chicken as ours ended up being a little dry. Enjoy! Bon appétit!

Ingredients:
1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
Juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions:
1. Place Greek yogurt, lime juice, honey, turmeric, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl and mix until well combined. Reserve about a 1/4 cup of marinade to serve with your chicken later on. Spread remainder of marinade evenly over chicken breasts in a shallow dish and refrigerate for an hour.

2. Heat oven to 350˚F. Heat a nonstick grill pan over medium high heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray and sear chicken for 2 minutes per side or until browned. Place chicken in a large rectangular dish and bake with your leftover marinade at 350˚F for 8 to 10 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center. Makes 4 servings.

Ancho Honey Chicken with Tropical Rice

This chicken was so, so, SO incredibly yummy. We were blown away with the yumminess of it all. You just have to try it. Just have to. Definitely a lot of summer flavours, which made it perfect for a freezing cold January in Ottawa evening!

I also never, ever do anything exciting with rice. I am truly a plain Jane when it comes to rice so this recipe definitely called for a step outside of the old rice comfort zone.  End result was pretty darn tasty if I don`t say so myself. You will end up with lots of left over fruit (1/2 a cantaloupe and a good deal of pineapple too) so have some fun and make yourself up a nice big fruit salad for later deserts and lunches. Scour your kitchen for any other left over fruit you might have on hand - I added some chopped oranges, a handful of blueberries and more lime with a sprinkle of sugar. Très bon appétit!

Ingredients:
Chicken:
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worchershire sauce
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt (1/2 tsp. sprinkled directly on chicken)
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

Tropical Rice:
2 cups finely chopped cantaloupe
2 cups finely chopped fresh pineapple
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
4 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 tablespoons canola oil
Juice of one lime
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. To make the chicken, heat oven to 350˚F. Place brown sugar, honey, vinegar, Worchershire sauce, ancho chile powder, cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until brown sugar is dissolved and mixture has reduced to 1/4 cup. Sprinkle chicken breasts with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place chicken breasts on a grill pan heated over medium high heat and sear chicken breasts on both sides for 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Place seared chicken in a 13×9-inch baking dish and use a pastry brush to rub half the glaze on all sides of the chicken breasts. Bake at 350˚F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and baste with remaining glaze. Bake an additional 2 minutes at 350˚F or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

2. Meanwhile, make the tropical rice by mixing cantaloupe, pineapple, red pepper, and onion in a large bowl. Remove 1/3 cup fruit mixture for chicken garnish, if desired. Stir in rice, toasted almonds, canola oil, lime juice, and salt until well mixed.

3. To serve, place rice on 4 plates and top each with a piece of chicken and fruit garnish. Makes 4 servings.

- recipe cred to Bake, Batter & Bowl  :)

Chicken Taquitos with Salsa Verdé

So it seems that I`m in the mood lately for recreating my favourite appetizers from my favourite Ottawa restaurants. This one is a spin-off from Poncho Villa`s flautas (or the equally deep fried version slowly rolling away at your local 7-11 ... depending on who you ask ...).  In searching for `taquito` recipes, I also discovered that "Taquito" was also the name of a Star War's character (thank you Wookiepedia): Taquito (pronounced /ʈaqɪʈo/) a male Rodian pilot who lived during the last years of the Galactic Republic on the Outer Rimplanet Iego. Apparently Taquito died trying to breacbck through the laser grid system left by the Separatists.  Poor Taquito.

All that aside, the mexican appetizer version of these little guys are uber yummy. Kids would adore them, I'm certain of that. To deep fry the taquitos at home (not having a deep-fryer of course), we heated oil in a soup pot to the point that it was shimmering. We made sure to have enough oil to just cover the taquitos. I should note too that we had a lot of fun making up the salsa verdé too. The salsa lasted for a few days and was the perfect accompaniment to tortilla chips. Olé y buen appetito!

Ingredients:
For the chicken taquitos:
2 large chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
4-6 white corn tortillas
Oil for frying

For the salsa verdé:
1 1/2 cups yellow tomatoes
1/4 a small purple onion
a big bunch of cilantro
3 tablespoons vinegar
salt to taste

Directions:
For the taquitos:
Mix the chicken with the cumin, chili powder, onion powder, salt, and cheese until well mixed. Press 3-4 tablespoons of the chicken mixture together to form a "snake" that is then rolled tightly into a corn tortilla. To get really great taquitos, I placing the corn tortillas one at a time in very hot water for 3-5 seconds, then removing them quicky, rolling them around your chicken mixture, and allowing them to air dry for a few minutes before placing in a saucepan filled with an inch or so of oil heated to medium heat for frying. Fry the taquitos 2-3 at a time on all sides just until golden. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve with salsa.

For the salsa verdé:
In a blender, puree all ingredients together. Serve with warm, fresh taquitos. Enjoy.

- Recipe cred Cheeky Kitchen

Chicken Puxa Vida

This dish is definitely a Giles' dish (hola' to all of the Giles' out there... you've got to try this one!). It is freakin' delicious. It was a lot of fun to make and is really different from standard everyday dinner fare. It could easily be done with tilapia as well (I have seen lots of recipes for this and, in fact, this recipe started out as a tilapia puxa vida recipe from Brooke from Cheeky Kitchen, I love her blog and look forward to every new post.) The sauce is a slightly sweet tomato sauce with coconut milk, lime, and cilantro. It is rich and flavourful and light at the same time. By the way, "Puxa Vida" means WOW in Portuguese, and you'll likely find that this recipe makes you feel wowalicious all over. Mmmmm. Bon appétit!

Ingredients:
1 red pepper
1/2 onion
1 jalapeno seeded
5 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk
2 (15 ounce) cans roasted tomatoes

2 Tablespoons honey
juice of one lime
2 pounds chicken (or possibly tilapia?)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
rice for serving
black beans

Directions:
1. Pulse together the red pepper, onion, jalapeno, and garlic until finely chopped.

2. Add the onion mixture to a saute pan coated with olive oil. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the coconut milk, tomatoes, and honey to the pan.

4. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the lime juice and check for seasonings. You might need to add a little more honey or lime juice.

5. Add the chicken to the pan and cover with the sauce.

6. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes. To know that it is cooked through, it will be opaque.

7. Garnish with chopped cilantro and additional lime wedges. These are great served with baked rice and favorite black beans.

- recipe cred to Cheekykitchen.com

Chicken Zucchini Pistou with Penné Pasta

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First and foremost: What is Pistou you ask? I didn’t know either. Turns out that it is French pesto. You`ll definitely need a food processor for making this dish - something we invested in a couple of years back and couldn`t do without. That poor thing has been so over used that it now requires firmly inserting a pen (or BBQ skewer as is often handy) to engage the machine at all times while you`re using it.  

This dish was really yummy. Especially eating it with such wonderful ladies. The flavours are really rich yet subtle. Any cooking with cream is truly special. Truly truly. Pour yourself a big glass of wine and if you are really inspired make a salad and call it dinner. Bon appétit!

Ingredients (for 4):
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
1 cup packed basil leaves
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons toasted pine nuts
4 chopped garlic cloves
1 cup chopped chicken
2 cups chopped Vidalia (or other sweet onion)
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
8 ounces penne pasta
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
1. Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the zucchini and cook until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cool.

2. Put 1/4 cup of the cooked zucchini, basil, 1/4 cup cheese, pine nuts and garlic in the food processor.

3. Add the rest of the olive oil to the pan and add the onions. Cook for 10 minutes until the onions are brown. 1/2 way through, add the chicken and cook through. Cook the pasta in 6 quart of salted water. Reserve 1/3 cup cooking liquid to add to the processed zucchini mixture. Add the cooking liquid to the food processor and pulse until smooth.

4. Add the zucchini back to the pan with the pasta and the processed zucchini mixture. Add the heavy cream and salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until everything is heated through, maybe 22 minutes. Taste for seasonings (you may need more salt and more garlic... I did).

5. Pour the pasta into a big bowl and garnish with some basil leaves, pine nuts, and cheese.

- recipe & photo cred to Baked Bree

General Tso`s Chicken

This dish might be what you'd call a DIY, healthified makeover of the General Tso' Chicken that you are used to seeing in your Chinese takeout box. Normally the chicken is coated in the egg white/cornstarch mixture and deep fried till golden brown. This version however is pan fried in a drizzle of oil olive oil until crisp and tender, making it not only quick enough to eat on a weeknight, but healthy enough to eat as often as you like. The fact that it requires no special ingredients, pastes or sauces makes it a great last minute dinner too. You could swap out the snow peas for whatever veggies you have on hand in your fridge or freezer. Just make sure you don`t skip out on the fresh ginger either. It gives the dish a real ZIP. If you`ve never cooked with fresh ginger before, give it a try - you`ll never go back to making stir frys with out it. Really, really yummy. Bon appétit!

Ingredients (serves 4):
1 1/4 cups long-grain brown rice
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 pound snow peas, trimmed and halved crosswise
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated and peeled
3 tablespoons light-brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
2 large egg whites
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower

Directions
1. Cook rice according to package instructions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water until smooth. Add snow peas, garlic, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, and red-pepper flakes; toss to combine, and set aside.

2. In another bowl, whisk together egg whites, remaining 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken, and toss to coat.

3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Lift half the chicken from egg-white mixture (shaking off excess), and add to skillet. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining oil and chicken, and set aside (reserve skillet).

4. Add snow-pea mixture to skillet. Cover; cook until snow peas are tender and sauce has thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet (with any juices); toss to coat. Serve with rice.

Potato Chive Soup

It's officially fall when you start making soup on a Saturday afternoon. It`s great to prepare some lunches for the upcoming week and I am trying to use up all of the precious remainders of the onion corner in my garden. The quantities in this recipe are loosely guessed. That`s the great thing about making soup though - every batch will be different. This soup is creamy, comforting, bursting with so much flavour, and very good for you too (minus the sour cream, butter and cream... okay, so it`s not that good for you, but it is flavourful!)! Oh, not to mention inexpensive to make, which is always a bonus. Bon appétit!

Ingredients:
8 medium sized russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 sweet potato (if you have one)
4 cups canned chicken broth
1/2 cup (about) cream (I used 1/2 & 1/2)
2 tablespoon butter

1 onion

handful of chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/3 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper
Additional sour cream & bacon bit for serving

Directions:
1. Sauté onion and green onions in 1 tbs. of butter until soft in a large soup pot. Pour in broth and chopped potatoes. Cover and simmer until potatoes are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Let mixture cool slightly.

2. Purée potato mixture in batches in blender or processor - or, if you`re lucky, you own a fantastic hand blender (I`m one of those lucky people!). Return soup to saucepan. Stir in enough cream to thin to desired consistency. Mix in additional butter and chives. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat and mix in 1/3 cup sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing additional sour cream & bacon bits separately.

Overnight Curried Honey Chicken

This chicken recipe is perfect for those days when you know you won`t have a lot of energy to prepare dinner. While making the night before, quickly throw together the marinade for this recipe (seriously, the first step takes no more than 5 minutes). Then when dinner rolls around the next day, put the chicken in the oven and throw some green beans in the steamer, maybe a salad, and dinner is ready. This chicken is my favorite combination of sweet and savory. The marinade becomes a sauce and the chicken is incredibly tender. Really, you need to make this. Bon appétit!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon curry powder
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 chicken breasts

Directions:
1. Mix together the honey, mustard, soy sauce, and curry powder.

2. This is so easy, it is ridiculous. Put the chicken and marinade in a plastic bag or glass container and marinate overnight.

3. The next day, put the chicken and the marinade in a pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour covered with tin foil.

4. Uncover the chicken and baste. Cook another 15 minutes. Slice and top with some of the remaining sauce.

- recipe cred to Baked Bree

Blackened Cayenne Chicken

Remarkably, it's now been almost 2 months since we last made dinner inside. I'm sure that this is doing wonders for our electricity/AC costs. Instead of using a pre-made spice rub, why not make your own? This rub uses ingredients that you should be able to find in your own spice cupboard and is delicious! The more cayenne you add the spicier it'll be :)  I guess our finished product didn't exactly blacken per se, but I'm sure you could end up with that result if you were ambitious enough.  Bon appétit!


Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for grill
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 garlic clove, minced
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves (2 1/2 pounds total)

Directions
1. Set up a grill for indirect cooking over medium-high. Clean and lightly oil hot grill. In a bowl, combine paprika, ground pepper, salt, cayenne, oregano, thyme, garlic, and oil; rub on chicken.

2. Grill chicken, skin side down, directly over heat source until skin is browned, about 4 minutes. Flip chicken; move to cooler side of grill. Cover grill and cook chicken until cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a platter and tent with foil. Let chicken rest 10 minutes.

Recipe cred Everyday Food

BBQ'ed Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza

Mum Giles, this recipe is for you! 


Now how cool is this recipe? I mean really? BBQ'ing pizza. Wow. Had never done that before. This recipe may be taking the whole grilling experience to a new level. The ultimate BBQ adventure. You'll definitely want a buddy when you're making this dish because it can move REALLY quickly. The important thing to note is that when you first put your dough on the grill, you are initially cooking the top side of the pizza that will eventually house your ingredients on (seems backwards... I know!).  It will become obvious as you prepare your pizza, but just to clarify things:
1) the side of the dough you oil will eventually be the top side of the pizza (this side is cooked down first)
2) when the top side is cooked, flip the dough (so that the cooked side is on top) and add your toppings
3) put your 1/2 cooked dough with the toppings now on it back on the grill (toppings up of course :)

Depending on your ingredients, you may want to toss your pizza in the oven to broil it for a minute or two before serving. Bon, bon appétit!


Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
All-purpose flour, for shaping dough
1 pound pizza dough (either purchase at store, or, better yet make your own)
Sauce: Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken*
Pizza toppings: cooked chicken, scallions, crumbled goat cheese, avocado, red onion, red pepper, grated cheese etc.

* a note on the sauce: this is not garlicky or spicy, but rather a nice sweet sauce with a hint of chili spice. The bottle looks something like this:

Directions
1. Heat grill to medium. Brush a large rimless baking sheet (or an inverted rimmed sheet) with 1 tablespoon oil (we use our panini press sheets). On a lightly floured work surface, roll and stretch dough to two 8-inch ovals or rounds. Transfer to prepared sheet. Brush tops with 1 tablespoon oil.

2. Place crusts on your baking sheets oil side down. Transfer dough to grill. Cook, without turning over, until undersides are firm and begin to char, 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs and a large spatula,

3. Scatter crusts with sweet chili sauce, grilled chicken, scallions, cheese, red onion and red pepper; and slide back onto grill. Cook, rotating occasionally, until cooked through and cheese begins to melt, 3 to 5 minutes.  Be very careful to watch your crust to ensure it doesn`t burn. Transfer to a cutting board.

4. Serve with some nice avocado and spinach on top. You may need to broil your pizza in the oven for a couple of minutes if you want that grilled top look. It will certainly be grilled on the bottom though. Enjoy!

Grilled Lemon Garlic Chicken

This is such an easy, tasty dish. No marinading. Just lemony deliciousness on your plate in 1/2 an hour. I definitely recommend working with thinner pieces of chicken so that they cook through quickly and evenly (and so that you don't end up with charred chicken on the outside, pink totally uncooked chicken on the inside). Oh to the hot days of summer.... so perfect for the bbq. Bon appétit!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for grill

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 tsp freshly cracked pepper

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds total)

Directions
1. Heat grill to high; lightly oil grates. Mince 1 garlic clove, and place in a shallow dish. Add lemon juice and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Add chicken, and toss to coat. Let stand at room temperature at least 5 minutes (and up to 30).

2. Brush bread on both sides with remaining 2 tablespoons oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill bread until beginning to char, about 1 minute per side. Cut remaining garlic clove in half, and rub cut sides over grilled bread; set bread aside (discard garlic clove).

3. Grill chicken until opaque throughout, 1 to 3 minutes per side. Serve with fresh lemon wedges.

- recipe and photo cred to Everyday Food

Maple Mustard Pork Chops

Well, I am now home recovering from round #6 of back surgery. When will it end? The only upside to going through these procedures is that my mum comes up to visits and takes really good care of me for a few days. On the way home from a walk today, she picked up a boat load of nice, fresh pork chops from Metro that were uber on sale. We split them all up into individual freezer bags and are now all set to go for weeks of delicious bbq'ed chops. This is a nice little recipe that I came across while perusing Canadian Living online. Yum, yum. The maple/mustard combo would be delicious on chicken too. Remember not to heat your grill too, too high as the sugar in the maple syrup can cause the ribs to char too quickly. Nice, slow steady heat will do it. We served these pork chops up with a yummy pasta salad and french bread. Bon appétit!


Ingredients
4 pork loin chops
2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp grainy mustard (or perhaps a few tbsp of mustard seeds)
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Directions
1. Heat grill to medium; lightly oil grates. Trim any fat from pork chops. Combine honey, Dijon and grainy mustards, salt and pepper; brush over both sides of pork chops. Save a tablespoon or 2 of sauce to brush on top when the chops are fully grilled.

2. Place on greased grill over medium heat or under broiler; close lid and grill, turning once, until juices run clear when chops are pierced and just a hint of pink remains inside, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Brush with leftover sauce and serve. Enjoy!

Recipe cred: Canadian Living, photo Kalatogas

LONG LIVE THE BARBEQUE!

Tandoori Chicken

This dish was tonight's dinner and oh boy was it ever good. And when I mean good, I mean G O O D.  I don't think that I've had such a good dinner in a long time (that's quite a claim, I know!). Jeremy and I really enjoy Indian food but have never made our own tandoori chicken. This dish is a little scary because you`re cooking your chicken at an insanely high temperature but that is to replicate working in a `tandoor` (a giant, unglazed clay oven). Sadly I didn't have one of those, so my oven had to do the trick. The nice thing about this particular dish is that, for those of us who are trying to keep our food clean and healthy, you use skinless chicken, your yogurt can be low-fat and everything is baked. The nice thing as well about this recipe is that it doesn`t call for any crazy ingredients. Turmeric may be the only spice missing from your cupboard but you shouldn`t have any trouble finding it at the grocery store - it's a beautiful golden yellow colour (ie. almost electric!). As a warning from experience though: be very careful not to get it on your clothing!   This is definitely a recipe that we will be making again. I highly recommend that you give it a try! Bon appétit!

Instructions:
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 bone-in, skinless chicken breast halves (10 to 12 ounces each)


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together 1/2 cup yogurt, garlic, turmeric, ginger, 1/4 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken; turn to coat.

2. Transfer chicken to a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast (avoiding bone) registers 160 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes.

If you`re interested, here`s a picture of a tandoor:

Ooooo. Doesn`t that naan look good?