Weeknight Recipe Ideas

[Gilmore]

Most nights I'm grilling chicken breasts with some sort of grilled, baked, or steamed veggie and I'm looking to mix it up a little with something new. What are your favorite easy or quick seasonings, marinades, and recipes for weeknights?

[tbob4]

I am trying something new tonight. The recipe looks good. Breasts and thighs have been marinating since last night. My daughter found the recipe and asked me to try it for her. I will try it and report back to you and her if it is a success.

[Gilmore]

*fingers crossed* looking forward to hearing how it turns out

[Gilmore]

To help kick things off, here's one of mine. Credit goes to the Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ (I hope I did the AmazingRibs tag correctly).

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Ingredients:

1. 1 or 2 pork tenderloins
2. 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3. 1/4 cup minced green onions
4. 1/4 cup bourbon
5. 1/4 cup soy sauce
6. 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
7. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
8. 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Steps:

1. Remove silver skin from tenderloins, leaving a thin layer of fat. Combine brown sugar and next 5 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag; add pork. Seal bag, and chill 8 to 18 hours, turning bag occasionally. Remove pork from marinade, reserving marinade.
2. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Grill pork, covered with grill lid, 8 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 155°. Remove from grill, and let stand 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine reserved marinade and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Cut pork diagonally into thin slices, and arrange on a serving platter; drizzle with warm sauce.

[jgreen]

That sounds good. Always tough to put bourbon in a marinate instead of in the cook. I still will try, and just test the bourbon first. Thanks.

[Gilmore]

haha, wish I could like your comment jgreen

[CarlP3]

Grilled Moroccan Meatballs with Yogurt Sauce...By Jennifer Segal, adapted from Curtis Stone's What's For Dinner?

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

• 1 large egg
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

• 1-1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1-1/4 pounds 85% lean ground beef
• 1/3 cup panko
• Vegetable oil, for grilling

For the Yogurt Sauce:

• 1/2 English cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and finely diced
• 1 cup plain low-fat or whole milk Greek yogurt (do not use non-fat)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from one lemon
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Steps:
For the Meatballs:

1. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat (about 500 degrees).
2. Mix together the egg, garlic, cumin, allspice, cilantro, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
3. Add the ground beef and panko and mix with your hands until well combined.
4. Using a 1/3 cup measure, form 8 disc-shaped meatballs. (They will dome slightly on the grill, forming nicely rounded meatballs.)
5. Dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and, using tongs, rub over the grates several times until coated.

Grill the meatballs, covered, for about 4 minutes per side, or until browned on the exterior and no longer pink in the center.
Transfer the meatballs to a serving plate and let rest for 3 minutes.

For the Yogurt Sauce:
Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

[Gilmore]

CarlP3 looks delicious, thank you!

[Nate]

My wife likes chicken marinated in Italian dressing.... I usually put some breasts and dressing in a ziplock baggy for a couple days then grill it....

been on a pork tenderloin kick lately.... dry brine with some kosher salt then sprinkle some coarse black pepper and rosemary in it before grilling whole.... slice and serve ... can do use a lot of different rubs if you want... very versatile cut for grilling options and seasoning options.

[Gilmore]

I had totally forgotten about using Italian dressing as a marinade. Going to pick some up on the next trip to the store.

[Mr. Bones]

Are ya' wantin' all variety of easy weeknight grill/smoker cooks, or jus' wantin' more/different chicken breast/veggies options?
I'll be glad to provide assistance, once I know which direction yer strivin' t'wards...

[Gilmore]

both , but we do have a lot of chicken and rock cod in the freezer right now as is.

[tbob4]

Review, as promised. I added 1/4 cup of orange juice and served pico de gallo over the top. The boneless thighs were very good but the breasts were a tad bland. If I were to make adjustments, I would add a heat element to the marinade. I noted that the photo with the recipe had cilantro but nowhere in the recipe did it call for it. That's why I went with the pico as a garnish.

[tbob4]

jgreen - cooked it on my Santa Maria grill. Used oak and cherry wood as the fuel. It had a bit of smoke because when I raise the grate I cover the chicken with a pan so that it bakes a bit. It captures smoke that way, too.

[Gilmore]

Looks good, how long did you marinade? Think the breasts would do better with a little longer marinade?

[tbob4]

@Gillmore - 24 hours in the marinade. I think the length of time was sufficient, but they were very thick breasts. I would go with thinner next time. The thighs were very nice. The marinade just needed a bit more pizzazz.

[texastweeter]

The other thing I do is put the big supermarket chickenzilla breasts in a gallon zip bag, and beet the beejesus out of them with a big heavy all clad stock pot until thin enough to be schnitzel. Then I season them with greek seasoning(you can use the cavendars store brand, but I like to make ALL my own seasonings, rubs, and sauces). I cook down red onions, garlic, and spinach in bacon grease (a staple in my house) and season with cracked pepper and kosher salt. I then sprinkle in diced bacon bits (the ones that the fat came from) and feta cheese while still warm so the cheese begins to melt. I spread the hot mixture out on the chicken schnitzels, and then roll up. you can either wrap in prosciutto, or pin with toothpicks. grill them over medium high heat while basing with Italian dressing. I usually serve with grilled asparagus heavily seasoned and a rice pilaf. drizzle a balsamic vinegar that has been reduced over everything and top with parmesan shavings. YUMMMMMMMM

[Gilmore]

That sounds super good and the whole idea of pounding out the chicken and rolling it up around a filling of some sort really opens up a lot of new options for experimenting.

[tbob4]

texastweeter - I really like the new photo!

[texastweeter]

thank you bob, I am rather fond of it too.

[EdF]

Hey Y'all - hand me your beer and try this! https://www.evernote.com/l/AKKyZ-0Ze...5TiuDpmVbLWWMs

[texastweeter]

done it and it is good, soak the peaches in brandy first and sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar. Hand you my drink???? Ist that what straws were invented for?

[EdF]

Hey, a man has to try.