We’ve been super busy this summer.. job changes including lots of studying for David, company, travel, more company, etc. Finally we have a week at home with just us and decided we are staying in and keeping it simple for dinner all week. Time to RESET! I had some chicken already marinated and in the freezer and for whatever reason we kept skipping over the lemon ginger marinade. So I pulled it out to thaw and while at the salad bar at the grocery store over lunch grabbed a few ingredients to add!
The Lemon, Ginger chicken is a simple marinade: Olive oil, ground ginger, crushed red pepper flakes and lemon juice. Throw your chicken breasts with these ingredients into a zip lock bag and in the freezer. When you are ready to use, just pull out the morning of to thaw!
Next, I added about 1.5 tablespoons of ghee butter to my pan and heated over medium. I added in one bunch of broccolini – roughly chopped/separated into large “bite” size pieces. Stir into the melted ghee and sprinkle with a touch of salt, garlic powder, crush red pepper flakes and ground ginger.
I saw some gorgeous chanterelle mushrooms at the store earlier and grabbed them just in case.. so I threw them into the mixture as well. They were fairly small already – no need to chop. I then squeezed in the juice of one (juicy) lemon, a small bit of honey and some meyer lemon olive oil. If you don’t have meyer lemon, regular is fine as we already added fresh lemon juice. Stir over medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes.
Then I added riced cauliflower. I used a bag of frozen from Sprouts and threw it in straight out of the freezer. Stir this together well over medium-high heat for another 4-5 minutes, then lower to a simmer and cover.
I didn’t grab any good pictures of the chicken for you, but they were just simple, organic chicken breasts with some non-colorful marinade. We grilled them over medium-high heat on the grill until they reach a temperature of 160 degrees. The optimal temperate for chicken is 165 degrees, but taking it off the grill slightly early and allowing to cool a few minutes before slicing will bring it to temperate and not lose all of the juice.
Lastly, I decided we needed just a touch of a sauce or something to drizzle on top of the bowl. So I made a creamy ginger sauce. I mixed together the following in a small bowl: approx 3 tbsp of Greek yogurt (non-fat), 2 tbsp of coconut aminos, 1.5 tbsp meyer lemon olive oil, 1 tbsp honey, 1/2 squeezed lemon, ground ginger, garlic powder and just a dash of salt. Mix together until creamy.
Slice your chicken and place over top your veggie mix in a bowl. Drizzle with your sauce. And – enjoy! 🙂 We only used maybe 1/2 of the sauce or left – so we’ll see how long it keeps in the fridge.
Lemon Ginger Veggie Chicken Bowl2
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts large, organic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp red pepper flakes approx
- 4 tbsp ground ginger approx
- 1.5 tbsp ghee butter
- 1 bunch broccolini roughly chopped/separated
- dash salt
- 4 tsp garlic powder
- 1.25 cups chanterelle mushrooms approx
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp meyer lemon olive oil
- 12 oz riced cauliflower frozen (1 package)
- 3 tbsp greek yogurt non-fat
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
Instructions
Lemon Ginger Grilled Chicken
- To make your marinade, mix together the following ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil, juice of one lemon, 1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes and 2 tbsp of ground ginger.
- Place chicken and marinade in zip lock bag and marinate over-night or place in freezer for future use.
- Thaw chicken before grilling. Grill over medium-high heat until chicken is 160 degrees. Let rest for 4 minutes before slicing. (you could also cook in oven or on stove and just look for the same temperature)
Lemon Ginger Cauliflower Veggies
- Heat about 1.5 tbsp of ghee butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add in your broccolini and stir for 3-5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with a dash of salt, 2 tsp of garlic powder, 1 tbsp of ground ginger and 1 tbsp of crushed red pepper flakes. (go light on the pepper if you are sensitive to heat/spicy)
- Add your mushrooms, 1 tbsp of honey, juice of 1/2 lemon and 1.5 tbsp of meyer lemon olive oil. Stir together another 3-5 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Pour your bag of frozen riced cauliflower into the pan (you can also use fresh!). Stir together well and reduce to a low/simmer heat and cover. Cook until your veggies are to your liking. I was multi-tasking and left them on a little longer than normal for us, but about another 12 minutes overall.
Creamy Ginger Sauce
- Mix together the following ingredients until smooth and creamy: Greek yogurt, coconut aminos, 1.5 tbsp meyer lemon olive oil, 1 tbsp of honey, ground ginger, 1/2 squeezed lemon juice, garlic powder and just a dash of salt.
Better than beef burgers (turkey)
We really enjoy a good turkey burger. I have some old go to recipes that we like, but I decided to change it up this time. And I’m glad I did – they turned out fantastic! Luckily I was silly enough to make a dozen so we now have a few packs in the freezer to enjoy in a week or so. I think you can cook Turkey burgers just about any way: grill, stove top, oven. We usually grill, but it was close to 120 degrees yesterday!! So – I used a cast iron griddle on the stove. It may have helped me keep them together a little better as well? I have one like this ..actually I think it might be that exact one. We like to use it on the grill for breakfast too. Oh.. I should share a few of our favorite grill breakfast recipes soon! Anyway – the burgers..
I had a huge box of fresh spinach so of course spinach turkey burgers are a thing. I decided to chop it up and leave fresh (not cooked). Just a rough chop worked fine. I threw that into a large mixing bowl.
Then, I had some beautiful jalapenos from the garden. As you can see they were red/turning red. I don’t know if it’s a wives tale, but I swear it’s true.. the longer they stay on and the hotter/drier it is outside the hotter the pepper. I diced them pretty tiny and added to my bowl of spinach. I then threw in a little Himalayan salt and some fresh cracked pepper.
So then I’m shuffling around the kitchen and pantry trying to figure out what I want to do with these and see some sun-dried tomatoes. I had both jarred and dried. I decided on the dried ones. I chopped them up as much as I could – those weren’t easy to chop. I might suggest a magic bullet or something similar for next time. Of course these need some cheese. I’ve used several kinds in the past and really debated on what type would go best with this burger and I landed on the classic feta.
Throw that all in your bowl and it’s looking like a really yummy and beautiful salad! I debated eating some for lunch! Lastly, before the turkey, I added some olive oil. I chose to use my Meyer lemon infused olive oil. Just a drizzle. Mix it all together really well.
Then, I got out my 3lb package of turkey.. yes that’s right, 3lbs. I started by adding in half and mixing together. Use your hands! I realized I had used such a large bowl that I probably added too much of the above so I went ahead and used the entire package of turkey. Praying these would turn out okay enough to freeze some for future. Trust me – they turned out so good I had to get this recipe written down quickly!
After mixing in your turkey really well – make your patties. These are about 1/4 pound patties. I was making these ahead so they would be ready to go when we got home from a little after work outing together so I put them in the fridge with some saran wrap over. When ready – I heated my griddle on high over my stove (using the grated side, not flat) and cooked on each side for approx 5 minutes. Don’t press down while cooking. You will squeeze out the juice. Just get your pan super hot and flip when ready. I also made a slaw that we served on top of the burgers (my husband with a bun and mine without). I’ll share that recipe with you next! The additional side that night was grilled pineapple – yummy! We also cooked that on top of the cast iron griddle. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did. Let me know what you think!
Better than Beef Burgers (Turkey)
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh spinach give or take
- 2 jalapenos
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 oz sun-dried tomatoes not in oil
- 1 cup feta cheese
- 2 tbsp olive oil meyer lemon infused if available
- 3 lbs ground turkey
Instructions
- Wash and chop the spinach. Add to large mixing bowl.
- Seed and dice the jalapenos and add them to bowl.
- Add salt (Himalayan) and pepper to bowl.
- Chop the sun-dried tomatoes. Also add them to bowl.
- Add Feta Cheese and olive oil and mix well.
- Add ground turkey mixing well, use your hands.
- Make your patties. You should have about 10-12 total patties around 1/4 lb each. Make sure you get them formed well so they don't fall apart on the grill, but don't work with them too much either. 🙂
- When ready to cook – heat your grill or griddle to a high heat. Cook on each side for approx 5 minutes. This will depend on how large you make your patties. Enjoy!
Whole smoked beer can chicken
I used my husband’s Traeger for the first time yesterday and with him gone – so no supervision. I am pretty darn pleased with myself and he can’t quit raving about our dinner either – that says a lot. He actually told me that my chicken turned out better than any he has ever done. So.. I decided I will share with you all what exactly I did. Also, this will help me remember in the future!
I bought this chicken at our local Frys grocery store. Normally I would go to Sprouts, but I needed a few things they wouldn’t have. This was in their organic section and marked down since the use by date was 2 days away. I was making that day – so even better – I got a great deal on a good size bird! This was about the size of the colossal rotisserie chickens you will find in your grocery store already roasted. It will go far for the 2 of us, but is amazing left over and you also need one big enough to fit a standard can of beer up it’s behind.
After cleaning out the inside of the chicken and thoroughly washing, I made my dry rub. I threw in about equal parts of each (1/4 cup maybe?) kosher salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, dried oregano (from the garden) and lemon powder (also from the garden). Mix everything together well. *If you have never made lemon powder before, it’s amazing and I’ll add the super simple instructions on another page soon*
I don’t want to admit what I did next, but I can’t omit it.. I took softened butter and rubbed that baby down. All over. Then, get really messy, and dump your rub all over the chicken – a little inside, under the wings, every inch of the bird. I then put in the fridge for a couple of hours as I wasn’t ready to throw on the smoker yet.
It took a little over 2 hours on the smoker – so plan accordingly to when you want dinner. Or how long you have to finish. *You can make the same thing on the grill – medium to low heat for approx the same time, probably a little less. Just watch for flare ups. Check on the bird in about an hour for temp.*
When you are ready to get the bird on the smoker, first things first, and this will be as simple as I needed for my first time using the Traeger smoker.. we currently have the small one (I figured out quickly why David wants the big boy). Plug it in. Make sure your pellets are full. Open the door, turn to smoke and turn on. Wait 10 minutes. Turn to medium heat and close the door. Wait 10 minutes. Open your beer, I used a bud light. Prop your chicken onto the beer leaving about 1/2 to an inch showing on the bottom. OR – you can use a handy beer can chicken pan like shown above. You sit the can in the middle and drop the bird on top. If you have the small smoker like we do, really shove that bird down..
Or it might not fit.. the top of my bird was resting against the top of the smoker and yes, I googled if that was ok.. with no results. It was more than fine! Put your bird in the smoker and shut the lid. Another note, it was approx 97 degrees outside so that raises the temp of the grill a bit.
Check on your bird in about an hour, make sure you have pellets still in your smoker and put a thermometer in the deepest part of the breast. You are looking for 165 degrees. You could take out around 160 as it will cook while it rests. After about 2 hours our bird was right around 160. We pulled it out and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
My husband has these super handy gloves he uses for BBQ that allow you to pull the meat apart while it’s still hot. He pulled this chicken apart for me while I was finishing the rest of our dinner. It literally fell apart – see above. And it was amazing!
Whole smoked beer can chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken organic, good size
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/4 cup pepper
- 1/4 cup smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup lemon powder
- 1/4 cup dried oregano
- 1 can beer
Instructions
- Clean your chicken and remove any parts on the inside. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Rub the chicken with softened butter all over.
- Mix together: salt, pepper, smoked paprika, lemon powder and dried oregano. Rub all over your chicken and place in the fridge until ready to smoke.
- Set up smoker on medium heat. Open your can of beer and place your chicken on top of the beer. If you have a beer can chicken pan, those work great!
- Put your chicken on the smoker. Check on it in about an hour and then after as necessary. You want to take it out around 160 degrees – take the temp at the deepest part of the breast.
- Once done, remove the chicken and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before pulling it apart.
- Enjoy!!
Grilled Romaine Salad
Before we moved to Arizona, we lived in a neighborhood called Napa Valley. Unfortunately for us, the grapes did not grow there, but thanks to some friends with a great little wine store – our cellar was stocked pretty well. The best thing about the neighborhood was meeting some of the best neighbors! People that enjoy to cook, love to eat healthy, try new things and share the experiences together!
These grilled romaine salads were almost always a hit (you can obviously modify salads easily) and of course the best is when you have garden fresh ingredients to throw in. I know – if you live in the Midwest you are probably rolling your eyes at me right now as I am posting this in January.
Here is my first attempt at walking you through one of my “recipes.”
First – let’s talk about the lettuce. Romaine is one thing I haven’t grown in my garden, yet. Lettuce is tough as it’s a first favorite among bunnies, bugs and other critters and when you are trying to keep it all organic, let’s face it, lettuce ends up being planted more for a barrier or distraction from your other prized plants such as tomatoes! Nothing better than home grown tomatoes! So – a bag of romaine lettuce from the grocery store is perfect for this.
Make sure you wash your lettuce and dry – I use paper towels. Then lightly coat with olive oil and place on a baking sheet to take to the grill. But – let’s grill it last so it’s still warm!
I had the privilege of tasting some of the sweetest corn growing up and although after braces in junior high I typically still take it off the cob, I do still love corn. For this one we are going to grill the corn. Pre-heat your grill to a medium high/high heat. Clean your corn and rinse all of the silks out. If you miss some – one of the best things about grilling – is most of them will char off! Lightly oil the corn and place directly on the grill, rotating about 4-5 minutes – until your corn is about 1/2 charred. Set aside to cool enough to handle. Once it’s cooled – I use a handy corn zipper to remove the corn from the cob.
The remaining ingredients/toppings are up to you, but here are my favorites: Tomatoes, I like a variety of colors, heirlooms from the garden are my favorite. Chop them up into small pieces. Peppers – again, fresh sweet peppers from the garden are a favorite and add even more color. I also like to add diced avocados and blue cheese. You can substitute the blue cheese for feta or in the past I have just left the cheese on the side for others to choose. I also love cilantro if you so choose or any fresh herb is a nice addition.
One really cool thing about living in Arizona are the citrus trees – and fresh lemons picked from your backyard!
The Dressing is totally up to you. Here is an idea for one that is light, easy and goes well with the grilled salad with all of your toppings!
- Lemon Juice (approx 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed)
- Olive Oil (1/4 cup)
- Champagne or White Wine vinegar (1/8-1/4 cup)
- pinch of freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
Place all of the ingredients in a container with a lid, or a salad dressing shaker, shake well. Ta-DA!
Once you have all of your toppings chopped and ready to go, grill your romaine! Medium heat for about 5 minutes should do the trick. You want to start to see a char, but not completely wilt the lettuce so that you leave some crunch. Place your romaine back on your baking sheet (or whatever serving platter you want to use) and start adding your toppings. You could make this a main dish or it’s super easy to cut the romaine into smaller pieces! ~Hope you enjoy!
Grilled Romaine Salad
Ingredients
- Romaine lettuce
- Corn (on the cob)
- Tomatoes – chopped
- Sweet peppers – diced
- Avocado – diced
- Blue Cheese – crumbled
- Cilantro – chopped
Instructions
- 1. Wash and dry romaine lettuce heads.
2. Clean the corn on the cob and grill on medium-high for approx 4-5 min. on each side until about 1/2 charred. Wait for corn to cool enough to handle and zip off the cob.
3. Chop remaining ingredients.4. Grill Romaine lettuce for approx 5 minutes until just starting to char, but not wilted.
5. Place the grilled Romaine on serving dish, add toppings (grilled corn, tomatoes, sweet peppers, avocado, blue cheese and cilantro).6. If serving as a side dish, cut the romaine heads into 3 pieces and serve with the dressing on the side.