Mexican Grilled Chicken with Black Bean Salad

Like I said in the wine post, it was girls night so we decided to go south of the border for our flavors and attempt a recipe that my husband makes much better than I do. I will have to update this post after he makes it one night so I can figure out what he does differently with the marinade, but for now here is my version.

Mexican Grilled Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 bottle of Mexican Beer (I recommend Pacifico)

1 lime

1/4 cup of coarsely chopped onion

1/4 cup of Tapatio

In a large bowl combine beer, hot sauce, and onion. Cut lime in half and squeeze the juice from both halves into beer mixture and add the lime halves to the mix. Taste and if flavors are all present add chicken. Cover bowl and marinade overnight. Heat grill on high and cook chicken for around 10 minutes on each side. Serve with black bean salad.

Black Bean Salad

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup of frozen or fresh corn

1/2 cup of diced red onion

2 serrano peppers, sliced thin

1 red bell pepper, diced

the juice from 2 limes

In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate, serve when cool.

1 Steak 2 Meals

Last week was pretty crazy around here. I barley got a chance to cook what I was hoping to so instead of the promised salads, here is the first of one night of cooking equals two meals posts. This features a kid friendly steak and fries meal, plus a great summer salad that can be used in various ways.

Grilled Steak to Pita Pocket

When looking to feed just myself and my son, I like to make simple meals that appeal to a 5 year old, yet are fun for me to eat to. my son loves steak, so I fired up the grill, seasoned the steak and made a simple meal.

2 8oz. New York Strip

1 teaspoon of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning

Heat grill on high. Cook steak for 3 minutes on each side. Let it rest, slice and serve half of one steak to each person. Reserve extra steak for meals the next day. Serve with Garlic Fries.

Garlic French Fries

1 package of frozen french fries or microwaveable fries (use enough to serve 2)

1 teaspoon of parsley leaves (fresh or dried)

1 to 3 pinches of garlic powder or 1/2 clove of diced fresh garlic

Salt and Pepper

Cook french fries according to package directions. Season with salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley. Mix well and optionally add some grated Parmesan cheese.

Left Over Steak Pita Pockets

2 Pitas, Sliced in half

1 steak, cut into thin slices

4 teaspoons of Mediterranean Humus (available at Trader Joe's)

1/4 cup of Greek Vegetable Salad (recipe follows)

Open 1 pita half and add 1/4 of humus to pita. Add steak and veggies. repeat until each pita is filled.

Greek Vegetable Salad

1 English Cucumber, peeled and sliced in to 1/4 inch thick slices

1 red onion, sliced into thin half moons

2 to 3 tomatoes, cut into large chunks

1/3 cup of Greek Salad Dressing (I like Kraft for this)

In a large bowl add all ingredients an mix well. Cover and place in fridge overnight. Serve with Crumbled Feta.

Crab Ceviche

As an added touch to our Mexican meal the other night I decided to whip up a quick ceviche. I was way in the mood for crab and felt that this would be a nice accompaniment to our meal.

Crab Ceviche

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 Serrano pepper, sliced thin

1/2 red onion, diced

the juice of one lime

1 pound of crab meat

In a small container combine red bell pepper, onion, sliced Serrano, and lime juice. Place container in refrigerator and let sit for at least 3 hours. Right before serving, fold in crab meat and serve. Note: if pepper is too hot, deseed, dice, or cut down on amount used.

National Grilled Cheese Month

Someone on Foodbuzz mentioned that April in National Grilled Cheese Month, how cool is that. I love grilled cheese and all the possibilities that come from bread, cheese, and whatever you can imagine tasting good with it. Tonight for dinner I decided to go ahead and honor National Grilled Cheese Month. I hope that you will be inspired to whip something up in honor of this month.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon dried herbes de Provence 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch rounds

2 summer squash, cut into 1/4-inch rounds

1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 loaf of rustic bread cut into 1/2 inch slices

butter for bread

Cheese of your choice for this I recommend gruyere, fontina, or provolone

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a shallow baking pan place veggies and cover with olive oil, herbs, and salt. Place into oven and cook for 20 minutes. Right before vegetables are done cooking butter slices of bread and began to grill on a medium high heated skillet. Add cheese to one slice of bread, when vegetables are done cover the cheese with a serving of vegetables and top with grilled slice, cook until bread reaches desired golden brownness, and cheese is melted.