Chicken (food)

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Chicken Kabobs

Lyn’s last day is today then she joins me in the “Everyday is Saturday Club”

My wise brother explained to me that when retired choosing to treat all days as Saturdays is the best, It’s a weekend day so you free to do what you want and there is no work the next day.

Anyway Lyn grabbed this off her healthier cooking recipe work site and it was pretty good, you can do kabobs or just breast your choice no pressure. I was hanging with our 5 month old granddaughter so Lyn made the breast under the broiler to avoid the rain and I came home to this with a avocado side salad and corn tortillas. It was yummy especially after fighting the rush hour traffic on Mass Pike and the 495 exit work. Anyway enjoyed this.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 large red bell peppers

2 small yellow onions

1 tablespoon garlic powder Steve Note: she used a Low Fodmap Foods substitute for this

2 teaspoons onion powder Steve Note: she used a Low Fodmap Foods substitute for this

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a Ziploc bag and toss well to coat the chicken and vegetables with the oil and spices. If making a double batch, you can freeze at this point. Thaw completely before proceeding. 

2. Alternate chicken and veggies onto a kebab stick (I recommend the metal ones).

3. Place on the grill and cook until the chicken is cooked through.

Quick Grilled Rosemary Chicken and Sweet Potato
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Quick Grilled Rosemary Chicken and Sweet Potato

Lyn is on a strict diet and I am on my own for meals but she made me promise to eat healthy and none of those bachelor meals eaten over the sink to save on plates. I feel I have done pretty well for the last two weeks. Only once did I go with a meal of prepackage frozen mac and cheese from Annie’s but it was organic and not bad. I think it is hard to cook for one, not sure about you but I tend to get more inventive no creative when I cook for someone else.  But on the other hand I am more willing to try something if I know that I will be the only one eating who cares if it was a failure, one learns from them.  I started with this grilled chicken, sweet potato and roasted cauliflower on the side. Ok I forgot to take a picture with the cauliflower you caught me.

Ingredients

  • 1 skinless chicken breast split
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 Tbsp. garlic rosemary oil (I had a lot of rosemary from the garden so infused some oil, 1 just rosemary and one with rosemary and garlic)
  • Some fresh chopped rosemary.
  • 1-Sweet potato and cauliflower

How

Rinse and dry the chicken very well

Salt and pepper rub with olive oil

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the grill to high and clean off the grates

Grill trying only to turn once until done about 160 degree internally about 4-5 minutes per side.

Remove, cover and let sit for at least 10 minutes

Slice against the grain

See recipe for roasting vegetables.

Cook the sweet potato in the microwave so it is partially cooked then finish on the grill

Against the Grain

I not talking about rubbing someone the wrong way, I’m talking about the way to cut most meats so that they are tenderer a better chew if you will. We read it in cookbooks all the time: “Slice thinly against the grain.” But what does slicing against the grain really mean?

  • The grain is the most important characteristic: it is the direction which the muscle fibers are aligned, and properly identifying it can make the difference between tough and tender. Take a close look at your meat, and you’ll see that just like wood, it’s got a grain.
  • Grill marks are probably the lines most often confused with grain. Many a time, I’ve seen some start slicing meat at a 90° angle to the grill marks, rather than to the natural grain of the meat (which may or may not coincide with those grill marks).
  • Can’t see the grain well sometime if you bend the piece of meat you can see it or a thin slice on the end and then look at the cross section for the direction. I can’t tell you how many times I look at the grain precooking and then after I grill it is sometimes hard to tell.
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