Summer dinner

Summer seems to be here and this dinner is one of our warm weather favorites.  The chicken is best if marinated overnight so I made the marinade yesterday and that made tonight’s prep time minimal.  I always make extra chicken since it is so good on salads or sandwiches – this week leftovers will make it into salad on Thursday.  Since this year’s basil crop is already getting tall, I’m not as stingy about using up the pesto that is in the freezer.  We’ll be making more soon enough.  Here are the recipes:

Eastern Shore Chicken

• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 3 oz olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TB poultry seasoning
• Chicken breasts with bone (you can also cook wings, legs or thighs)

Combine vinegar, olive oil, salt and poultry seasoning in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Let cool.  Pour over chicken and marinate.  Grill chicken until done.  My husband has discovered that the secret to get the breasts cooked perfectly is to cook over high heat (skin side down) for about 5 minutes and then turn off one set of burners and cook the chicken another 15 – 20 minutes with the chicken on indirect heat.  This makes the chicken moist and doesn’t burn the skin.  He cooks it until the meat thermometer shows 140 – it will come up a few more degrees while it rests.  You can see how good it looks in the picture.

Grilled Pesto Tomatoes

• Ripe tomatoes (1 per person)
• Pesto (either homemade or purchased)

Slice off ends of tomatoes and then cut in half for thick slices.  Top each slice with 1 – 2 teaspoons of pesto and grill for 5 minutes.

Happy Memorial Day! Cook out options

We were away for part of the holiday weekend.  After a cold and rainy spring, we have now landed in what feels like the middle of summer with hot and hazy weather.  Perfect for grilling.  If your idea of firing up the grill is limited to hamburgers and hot dogs, here are some ideas to liven up your grilling (all of them quick enough to let you spend most of your holiday lounging by the pool!)

Seafood

There are plenty of options for grilling seafood.  Tuna, swordfish or salmon all do well on the grill and you can also grill tilapia for fish tacos (search blog for the recipe).  I particularly like grilled shrimp.  Try this variation:

Grilled Rosemary Shrimp

• Shrimp (about 1/3 lb per person)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 TB fresh rosemary chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt

Mash rosemary, garlic and salt with olive oil.  Shell and devein shrimp and marinate in the rosemary mixture.  Skewer and grill until shrimp are  opaque.  This would be excellent on top of rice, cous cous or orzo.

Chicken

If you follow blog you know that one of my favorites is Eastern Shore Chicken.  I got the recipe from my mother-in-law and it is a summer staple in our house.  I always grill leftovers because the flavorful chicken is wonderful on salads or sandwiches.  This is good with grilled zucchini and squash or a salad.

Eastern Shore Chicken

• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 3 oz olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TB poultry seasoning
• Chicken breasts with bone (you can also cook wings, legs or thighs)

Combine vinegar, olive oil, salt and poultry seasoning in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Let cool.  Pour over chicken and marinate.  Grill chicken until done.

Meat

If beef is your thing, consider any of these (all available by searching blog) – shish kabobs, steak with adobo pepper marinade or steak with chimichurri sauce.  If you prefer pork, the pork tenderloin with hoisin sauce is an excellent option.

Choose your protein, make your marinade, pick your side dish and head to the pool.  That way you don’t have to turn on your oven and you can enjoy your holiday!