Grilled Maple Barbecue Chicken

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maple bbq grilled chickenA Tuesday Story:

So, with my last post, I promised a great grilled chicken recipe…one that would be the perfect protein-rific addition to that strawberry spinach salad.

And as your faithful blogger, I set to marinating and making it the very next day…quite jubilantly, in fact. See, when I was working, marinating meat meant making that night’s dinner, doing that night’s dishes, then making tomorrow’s marinade (and more dishes), so that the meat of choice could marinate all night and the next work day and be ready for dinner the following night.

ingredientsNot so with my new life of not working: I got up, had my breakfast, and made the marinade, and then spent the rest of the day cleaning the house, including the kitchen floor, which, quite honestly, might be the worst job on the planet (besides cleaning blinds…which I also did that day).

maple syrupThat night, Eric came home to a sparkling house.  Feeling pretty good about my work for the day and the meal we were about to eat, I opened up the fridge to take out some cold lemonade and proceeded to drop the bottle, spilling it all over the floor…..my previously clean kitchen floor. Eric and I feverishly worked to keep the spill from going under the fridge, but to no avail. So we pulled the fridge out into the middle of the kitchen, and I started to clean up the sticky juice mess as he started the grill.

asparagus grilledAs I continued to sop up lemonade from only the most inconvenient corners of our kitchen, I began to boil the marinade so he could use it to brush the chicken. For one brief moment I stepped out of the kitchen to get more rags, when I heard the angry hisssssssssss of a neglected syrup-marinade boiling over. I rushed back into the kitchen to stop it, only to be thwarted by the all-too-narrow opening between the fridge and our kitchen cart. Prego-Belly! I couldn’t. get. through.

Pot:  Hissssss.
Me: Aaaaarrrrrgh!!
Eric (from outside): What is going on?!

bbq

As the marinade continued to boil over, coating my range top with a maple-ey, sticky, mess, I, with a ladylike grunt, pushed the fridge back, got my belly through the opening, and turned off the burner.

And that’s when Eric came back in looking for the chicken, and found me in my now extraordinarily messy kitchen, looking hot, sweaty, and annoyed.

kitchenThen he grilled the chicken with what remained of the marinade, and we had a delicious dinner, and hours later finally felt like we no longer had sticky lemonade feet. The end.

Please tell me your life looks like this sometimes too.

Tuesday night? Complicated and messy. This chicken: the opposite. The marinade is so simple – 6 ingredients and a winning combination of sweet and savory. The chicken, after its maple syrup bath, comes out tender, with just a touch of sweet hiding behind that smoky grilled flavor. We ate it with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus, but the leftovers, we cut up and put in that strawberry spinach salad, which, as previously promised, was delicious.

bbq chicken

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Maple Barbeque Grilled Chicken

(recipe from Simply In Season)

(yields 6 servings)

My only change to this recipe was to double the marinade. The marinade, once boiled, doubles as a sauce to serve with the chicken, so doubling it ensures that you'll have enough to serve with dinner.

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. maple syrup

6 tbsp. cider vinegar

4 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tbsp. onion (minced) OR 1/2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

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6 chicken breasts, thighs, or legs (I used a combination of boneless, skinless breasts and 2 bone-in breasts, skin removed)

Instructions

Combine all marinade ingredients in a tight-sealing container and shake until blended.

Pour into a larger bowl (microwave-safe to save yourself dishes) and add chicken pieces, turning to coat.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour; all day or overnight is even better.

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Remove cover from your microwave-safe bowl of chicken + marinade. Microwave chicken and marinade together for 5 minutes.

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Remove chicken and pour marinade into a small uncovered saucepan. Bring to a boil (this will happen quickly!) and let boil for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

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Grill chicken over medium heat, brushing with the boiled marinade and turning occasionally. Continue to turn, brush, and grill until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

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Serve chicken with remaining boiled marinade.

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(Don't have a grill? Try baking this chicken: Place chicken in a greased pan. Pour marinade on top and bake at 350*, basting every 15-20 minutes, until done (about 1 hour with bone-in, less if boneless.)

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(Don't have a grill AND it's too hot to turn on your oven? Try pan-frying: Remove chicken from marinade and cook in a greased frying pan. When nearly cooked through, pour in some marinade, which will caramelize. Add about 3 tbsp. of water to the pan, stir, and serve glaze over meat.)

 

 

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Strawberry Spinach Salad – 3 Ways

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strawberry saladThe word binge has sort of been our theme around here lately.

A certain pregnant someone may or may not have eaten an entire bag of doritos in two days. A week or so ago, Eric and I watched five episodes of Friday Night Lights in one night in order to finish the series (my dreams that night were punctuated by Crucifictoriuos and Buddy Garrity). And on Saturday: “we should go on a date before this baby comes” turned into an entire day of merriment, complete with a Twins’ game, a matinee (you know…just to kill time to get more hungry before eating out), and pizza at one of our favorite places. Doing things “one last time” before the baby comes has sort of become our justification for all sorts of sloth and revelry.

strawberries

And around this time of year, we completely binge on this strawberry spinach salad. In August, it’s this bruschetta, and when bell peppers are sold by the bushel, it’s Smitten Kitchen’s Mediterranean pepper salad. But right now, we can’t get our fill of strawberries. And spinach. Combined in perfection in this salad.strawberry

The requirements: spinach, strawberries, nuts, cheese, dressing.
The variations: endless.
You can make this salad, put it on a plate with a piece of bread, and call it dinner in less than 10 minutes on those days when you get home from work, and your kitchen table looks like a toddler was given the responsibility of sorting your files for the last 5 years, and you’re starving and have to be at a class in an hour.
Or, you can put just a little more time into it, take this to a party, and impress your friends with a salad that is truly pretty, and not to mention, completely seasonally conscious.

fetaWhy do I love this salad? Let me list the ways. It’s completely flexible based on the kind of context you need it for or what you have on hand or just what you like to eat.
For the nuts, go nuts. Try almonds. Try pecans. Try toasting them.
For the cheese, I suggest feta. Don’t like feta? Try goat cheese. Dont’ like either? Seek counseling.
salad ingredients For the dressing, go with your favorite store-bought creamy poppy-seed dressing or raspberry vinaigrette for busy nights, or make the super-simple honey+oil+vinegar dressing listed below.
Feeling fancy? Add red onions. Or leftover grilled chicken (coming to a post near you very soon). Or make the third and more-involved dressing variety below, complete with balsamic vinegar, tarragon, and raisins.

strawberry saladWhatever your preference, I hope you try this salad. I almost hesitated to post it because it felt so simple, but then Eric reminded me that just a mere three years ago, I had never even thought the combination of fruit and greens could be eaten, much less delicious. So for your strawberry spinach salad veterans out there, try a variation, and for those of you who are contemplating never coming back to this blog again because the thought of strawberry and spinach together concerns you, please, for the love of May, give it a shot.

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Strawberry Spinach Salad, 3 Ways

(recipe from me!)
(dressing variation #1 from my friend Rachel)
(dressing variation #2 from my somehow blogless friend Jen)

(yields 6 servings)

This seasonal strawberry spinach salad is the perfect way to use early spring produce. This recipe is completely flexible, as indicated by all the variations listed below) based on your preferences and how fancy you want to make it!

Ingredients

For the salad:

6 c. packed spinach (mixed spring greens are a great addition)

1 pint or 2 1/2 c. strawberries, de-greened and thinly sliced

3/4 c. nuts (pecans or almonds - toasted is even better)

1 1/4 c. cheese (feta, goat cheese, or parmesan - finely chopped or grated)

(Optional Ingredients: )

3/4 c. red onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 c. grilled chicken, chopped into small pieces

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For the dressing:

Store-bought: a creamy poppy-seed or raspberry vinaigrette

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Variation #1:

3 tbsp. olive oil,

1 1/2 tbsp. or more apple cider vinegar

honey to taste

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Variation #2:

1/2 c. celery, finely chopped

1/2 c. red onion, finely chopped (would not add any additional onion to salad if using this dressing)

2 tbsp. raisins

1 tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted

1 tbsp. chopped fresh or 1 tsp. dried tarragon

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/8 tsp. black pepper

Instructions

**This salad will keep well for maybe an hour or two, but it's much better to combine all the ingredients, dressing included, at the last minute to keep the spinach from wilting. We do eat it the next day, but it's never quite as good as at first.

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For the salad:

Put the spinach, strawberries, nuts, and cheese in a large bowl, tossing to combine.

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For the dressing:

Variation #1: Whisk the oil, cider vinegar, and honey together until thoroughly mixed. Pour over salad and toss to combine.

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Variation #2:

Mix celery, onions, and raisins in with salad by tossing.

Whisk together the sesame seeds, tarragon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and paprika until thoroughly mixed. Pour over salad, and toss to combine.

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Farmers Market

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It’s a Carpe Season dream come true. After months of eating away at our frozen veggie stash and using stored carrots and potatoes well past their expiration dates, the Minneapolis farmers markets are back…and they brought asparagus. asparagusTrue to Minnesota, for our first trip out to the farmers market, we donned our fleeces and threw our rain jackets in the backseat; it wasn’t the warmest of spring days. But we were pretty pumped to score some early asparagus, a bunch of healthy-looking chives, and some local raspberry jam (because we still have a ton of this bread left in our freezer). farmers-marketThough the vendors were few so early in the season,  we had a great time sipping coffee as we listened to The Gated Community sing us bluegrass songs about everything from the mourning of Minnesota’s past to a disgruntled employee’s violent quitting of his hog-farm job (something I did this week, sans the disgruntled, violent, hog-farm part).

We were so happy to see the return of the Farmers Market to our corner of the city. Keep your eyes open for some market-inspired recipes coming your way in the next few posts, but in the meantime, click on the What’s In Season? button on the sidebar to find out where your closest farmers market is.

 

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Mini Fruit Tarts

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raspberry-tartsMay babies bring April showers.

I’ve now had four baby showers thrown for me in the last month and have been completely overwhelmed by the generosity of our family and friends.

Our little guy is totally set…from stroller to swing, blankets to books. We feel very loved. And somewhat more ready than we did a month ago, now armed with a dresserful of tiny clothes, several boxes of diapers, and a crib of baby-boy bedding, washed and ready to go.

teddy bear

I'm actually laughing at my cousin's son in this picture. He saw me pull the teddy bear out of the box and his eyes lit up. He immediate beelined for the bear, abandoning all the fun he was having with the crumpled tissue paper on the floor.

The showers have been such a delight…full of the sound of lots of women talking at once and of course, good eating. Shower food is typically finger food, which means you can easily graze the entire time you’re there…say two and a half hours. Not surprising that I had two midwife appointments six days apart, and I gained three pounds in that time.

3 pounds. 6 days. Yeah, that happened.

At the shower my closest friends threw for me, they even went the extra mile and had seasonal food. I know. There was a fantastic strawberry lemonade punch, chocolate peanut butter cake (which is always in season), and these mini fruit tarts, graced with early season raspberries and strawberries.

flags

My friend Sarah made this cake and cupcakes, complete with mini-banner and flags matching a sweet bigger banner hanging on the walls…chocolate ganache and earthy browns and greens…these are a few of my favorite things. (Click on the image to find out why Sarah’s a supermom.)

After eating, oh, I don’t know, about 15 of these tarts in two days (they let me take the leftovers home – big mistake)…I knew I had to feature them on the blog with sweet, seasonal strawberries popping up all over the place. The mini crusts are full of butter and taste like heaven. The flaky crust is topped with a simple cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla mixture that I’d like to bathe in. A small piece of fruit is placed on top (this season it’s strawberries and raspberries, but can you imagine these with peaches? kiwi? I’m dying here) and then finished off with a sweet limeade glaze (which sounds a little out of place, but is definitely and perfectly in its rightful place on these tarts).

Keep these in mind next time you need a dainty dessert, or the next time you need to gain 3 pounds in 6 days.

tartsAll photos (except the one of me and the bear) were taken by my talented friend Rachel. Isn’t she a fabulous photographer?

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Mini Fruit Tarts

(recipe from Paula Deen by way of Something Swanky by way of my good friend Jen.

(yields 24 mini tarts)

These delicious mini tarts are not only pretty on a plate, but overwhelmingly delicious. Have them with spring's strawberries, or grace them with summer's bounty of peaches and kiwis. These are perfect for any party.

Ingredients

For the Crust:

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and sliced

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For the Filling:

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 c.sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

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Topping:

Fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi, or peaches, cut into small pieces

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Glaze:

1 (6-oz.) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. fresh lime juice

1/4 c. granulated sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350*. Grease mini muffin tins generously with cooking spray. I like to use a greased paper towel to make sure every nook and cranny is greased.

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For the crust:

Combine the powdered sugar, flour, and butter in a food processor. Pulse until the dough forms a ball. (No food processor? Some intense mixing with your fingers will do the same job.)

Place a scoop of dough into each mini muffin cavity and press down in the center with your thumbs to form a mini pie shell. (I used a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop for this step.) Press each crust edge a few times with the tines of a fork and bake for 8-10 minutes.

The bottoms will rise (forming more of a cookie than a crust, so as soon as they come out of the oven use the back of a wooden spoon to press down the center of the tart so there will be room for the filling.

***Cool completely.

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For the filling:

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until no lumps remain. Place into a large ziploc bag. Cut off one corner of the bag and use it to pipe the filling into the cooled crusts.

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Add your fruit pieces to the top of the filling.

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For the glaze:

Mix limeade, cornstarch, lime juice, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until clear and thick, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Brush the glaze onto the top of tarts. You will have some leftover glaze.

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Store tarts in the refrigerator, removing about 15 minutes before serving.

These were good to eat the next day (store in refrigerator overnight), but I wouldn't let them last much longer than that (as though you would even want to).

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