GRILLED GARLIC LEMON CHICKEN AND CREAMY COLESLAW

Do you ever get in a dinner rut???  You've got chicken in the freezer, but just don't know what to do with it.  Last night I was dealing with that same dillema.  DH is not a big fan of chicken....but I really like it.  So when I make it...it's GOTTA be good!!  Last night when he came home from work and stepped out onto the back patio he was like "whatcha cooking???  It smells GOOOOOOD!!!"   YAY!!!  Lucky for me it tasted just as good as it smelled!  I paired it with some CREAMY COLESLAW (recipe below), a squash salad (will get a recipe and pic next time I get more squash) and some garlic bread.

If you are not handy with a knife, you can actually buy half a chicken cut up like this at some grocery stores. 

GRILLED GARLIC LEMON CHICKEN

1 whole chicken, cut in half

1/4 cup olive oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

Kosher salt

juice of 1 lemon

pepper

Preheat gas grill to medium heat.  Pour olive oil into a small bowl and stir in crushed garlic; set aside.  Thoroughly wash and dry chicken and place on metal cookie sheet or any pan that has sides.  Cut a small slit in the skin of each breast, brush  entire chicken with garlic/oil mixture. With remaining mixture use fingers to rub into the slit (under the skin) of each breast.  Sprinkle with lemon juice, then salt and pepper.  Place chicken (inside down) on a piece of foil on the grill (this helps to prevent burning from fat dripping off of the skin, but BE CAREFUL, the fat will pool and it WILL ignite if it flows off of the foil).  When the inside of the chicken is browned turn over to brown the skin (you can remove the foil at this time if you want a little more crunch to the skin).  When the chicken reaches 180 degrees internal temp or when cut there is no visible pink, it is done (approx 45 mins)

A food processor makes this recipe come together quickly!!



CREAMY COLESLAW

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4-1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 TBSP sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp celery seed

1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients in a large glass or plastic bowl. 

1/2 medium head cabbage, finely shredded or chopped (4 cups)

1 small carrot, shredded (1/2 cup)

1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)

Add remaining igredients; toss until evenly coated. 

Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour to blend flavors. 

MORE VEGGIES ON THE GRILL

So tomorrow Clinton is coming home from his week long Fishing Trip to Missouri........which means this will be the last night of JUST VEGGIES on the grill for dinner!  LOL  Although he likes grilled veggies....atleast some of them....I don't think he would let me get away with JUST VEGGIES!!  Asparagus, mini sweet bell peppers, mini bella shrooms and what was left over of a large green bell pepper.  We'd never had the minis bells before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect as far as seeds go and I didn't want to spend the time to cut up these little cuties.  Lucky for us they had just 4 teeny tiny seeds at the very top by the stem...which you don't eat!  Worked out beautifully.  I still have a half pack of these mini  bells and was thinking about stuffing them before they go on the grill....anybody have any good ideas for that????

CHICKEN KABOBS

Posted by Marisa Morgan

CHICKEN KABOBS

3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves-cut into 1 inch pieces
6 green onions or onion of your choice, cut into 1 inch pieces
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, stems removed



In a mixing bowl, combine first five ingredients. Stir in chicken and onion; allow to marinate for 30 minutes. Soak wooden skewers in water. On each skewer, thread a piece of chicken,onion,mushroom and another chicken piece. Place on a broiler rack. Boil 5 in. from the heat, turning and basting with marinade after 3 minutes. Continue broiling for another 3 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve immediately!!!!!!!!!!!!

TERIYAKI MARINADE

I like to use this marinade on Chicken Leg Quarters best!  It gives it such a wonderful deep flavor!

Teriyaki Marinade

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Pour over meat and allow to marinade for atleast 30 mintues.  Grill as desired.

GRILLING GOODNESS!!!!

So I'm taking a break from transferring recipes and thought I would post a few GRILLING pics!!  I love to grill veggies, meat, and whatever else may come my way in the future!!  Tonight for dinner we had grilled pork chops (left over from the other night, thank you Colton!!!), grilled asparagus and mushrooms!!!  Needless to say it was an AMAZING meal!  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of ANY of tonight's dinner.  But as luck (if you believe in luck) would have it.....my good friend Stacy texted me a pic of the grilled asparagus she made for dinner, reporting that her family ALL loved it!!!  YAY!!! 

 

Grilled Asparagus...photo courtesy of Stacy!!  Thanks Stacy!!!



Grilled Okra Pods, squash and zucchini

Shishkabobs....complete with pearl onions, yellow bell peppers, beef cubes, cherry tomatoes and one kabob with just mushrooms!!!

So you might ask...."how do YOU prepare your veggies and meat for the grill?"  Well, I'm glad you asked!!  For veggies I like to pour about 1/4 cup of olive oil into a small bowl and add about a tablespoon of minced garlic (or two cloves pressed).  I let that sit while I get my veggies assembled onto a metal cookie sheet.  At this time it's probably good to get your grill heated if you haven't done so already.  You'll also need a veggie grilling tray that has smaller holes in it so your veggies don't fall through.  If you don't want to spend the extra money no worries.  Take a good look at the pic of the grilled okra pods......I forgot my grilling tray was in the camper when we stored it....so I took one of my old cookie cooling racks and inverted it on the grill!!!  It works PERFECTLY!!  and didn't cost me a dime!!!  They don't really clean up completely though...so once you use it for grilling it will probably need to stay there!   Okay....so now your veggies should be prepped and sitting on your cookie sheet.  At this time I like to brush my veggies with the garlicky olive oil.....I saturate it really good so that on things that are round (like asparagus and okra pods) you don't have to turn them over to finish basting.  Then I sprinkle with my favorite seasoning.  I've just discovered Kosher Salt and I have to say it's FABULOUS!!  Otherwise I use Seasoning Salt and sometimes pepper.   As far as meat goes....I'm not as confident in my meat grilling abilities.....it's always easier if the meat is cut up and on the kabobs and so it gets the same seasoning as the veggies.  So I've posted these instructions in recipe form below so it's easier to read.  Thanks and ENJOY!!

GRILLED VEGGIES

assorted fresh veggies (whole small okra pods, thick sliced squash and zucchini, asparagus spears, mushrooms, onions, peppers, etc)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 TBSP minced garlic (or two crushed cloves)

seasoning of choice

Pour olive oil into small bowl, add garlic and set aside.  Cut/prep veggies and lay out on metal cookie sheet.  Baste with olive oil.  Sprinkle with desired seasonings.  Grill on low until lightly browned.  Serve and eat immediately.