Grilled Tandoori-Style Chicken

Remember how I am loving grilling things this summer? When I came across this Indian recipe in my Savoring the Seasons from Our Best Bites I had to try it! I am not sure how authentic this recipe really is, but it sure tasted great to us!

Preparation Time: 10 minutes (plus 8-24 hours marinading time)
Grilling Time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used chicken breasts and cut them up)
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 lemon, zested and then juiced
4 cloves chopped garlic
1/3 cup chopped white onion
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric

Instructions:

Place chicken in a large, heavy-duty ziplock bag.

Place all remaining ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Pour the mixture into the bag with the chicken and toss to coat all the chicken pieces.




Place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 8 hours.

When ready to grill, preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Lightly oil grill grates to avoid sticking. Remove the chicken pieces from the bag and allow excess marinade to drip off. Place the chicken on the grill and close the lid. Let it cook 4-6 minutes before flipping chicken over. Then cook an additional 4-6 minutes on the other side. If you use a thermometer (like I do, allow the chicken to reach a temperature of 165*F (74*C).

Eat with some rice and/or naan bread and enjoy :)

Pork Chops and Spaghetti

There was a good sale on pork chops at our local grocery store, so I stocked up. Now I have lots of pork in the freezer and don't know what to make with it. I got on the internet looked up some recipes. This one stood out in particular because I really like Spaghetti and I had everything I needed and didn't have to go buy anything.

Ingredients:

2 large pork chops
Flour
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 cups (24 oz.) marinara sauce (homemade or purchased)
½ lb. spaghetti
Parmesan cheese (optional to top before eating)
salt
pepper

Directions:

Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops, then sprinkle flour over them to lightly coat.

Heat olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat

Place pork chops in the skillet and cook until browned on both sides.

After they are browned on both sides, pour marinara sauce in pan. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the pork is done all the way through.

While the pork is simmering, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti.

By the time your spaghetti is done and you have drained it, your pork chops are probably done. So get your plates and serve it up!

Lemon Garlic Chicken

I've been trying out lots of different ways to BBQ here because 1) It's summer, 2) Because it's summer, I don't like to use my oven a whole lot, and 3) It's so good!!

I kind of threw this recipe together a few weeks ago and my husband loved it! He keeps asking me to make it again. So I thought I would share it with you. Sorry there aren't any pictures, but I didn't think to take them at the time I made this.

LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN

Ingredients:

Chicken (I used 5 big chicken breasts and cut them in half... I can't remember how many pounds)
3/4 cup oil
1 cup lemon juice
2 TBS minced garlic
1-2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and marinade overnight (I actually ended up marinading it for 2 nights)
When ready to cook the chicken, preheat grill for a few minutes on high.
Place chicken on the grill and turn heat down to medium (You might have to turn it down a little more depending on how hot your grill gets). Grill on both sides until done.
I am not an expert on grilling, so I use a thermometer to check the temp of the chicken inside. It took about 10 minutes on each side to get to the right temperature.

Serve with a salad and enjoy!

Casandra's helpful hints:

Like I said, I am not an expert grill-er. But these are things that I have noticed while I've been grilling.
The less times I turn the chicken, the more moist it is.
Using tongs, instead of a fork, to turn the chicken tends to keep the juices in more.
I like to take the chicken off the grill and let it sit for a few minutes (like steak). It seems to distribute the juices all over.

Rice Bowl

So remember how I really like Rumbi's? Well I wanted to make their rice bowl that I usually get. I found this recipe for some pork, used the Rumbi rice recipe and added veggies and Teriyaki sauce (bought from the store) and there you have it... instant rice bowl :)

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

This meal can be as easy as you want it, or as hard. It's easiest if you use left over meat. Then all you have to do is cook the rice and veggies.

Ingredients:

Meat of choice
Rumbi rice (or white rice)
Vegetables
Sauce of choice

I used broccoli, onions, carrots, and red peppers (capsicum) for the veggies.

Instructions:

Start with your rice, add the meat and veggies, top with your sauce and you have a rice bowl. :)

Enjoy!

Dutch Oven Aussie Pizza

When we first got to Australia, our days would be really long that when we got in, I didn't really want to cook anything. So one nights we got on the phone and ordered a pizza. We decided to order an "Aussie Pizza" because we had never had it before. Turns out it's a pizza with egg and ham on it. We have made it a couple of times before just in the oven. At our family reunion last weekend, we had dutch oven pizza and that was on our minds! So we decided to make an Aussie pizza in the dutch oven.

Ingredients:

Shredded ham (or deli style ham and layer it)
2 Eggs whisked together
Cheese
Marinara Sauce
Pizza dough*

*I Love using this recipe, but you can go buy it or use your own recipe.

Instructions:

Spray dutch oven with pam

Place pizza dough in the bottom.

Layer with sauce, eggs, ham, and top with cheese. (You might notice from the picture that I did it backwards... that's because sometimes I forget what I am doing. Either way you do it, it tastes good, but it's better when put the eggs on the bottom).

Cook in dutch oven for 30 minutes at 375*F (About 14 cols)

Note: If you don't have a dutch oven or don't want to do it, simply follow the directions but put it on a pizza sheet or on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 500*F for 10-15 minutes.

Coconut Rice

I posted a curry and suggested you try coconut rice with it, but never gave a recipe. So here are a couple that I use.

Casandra's Coconut Rice

One day I decided to put coconut milk in my rice instead of water and I loved it! So this is my recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups rice
3-4 cups coconut milk*
1 tsp salt

*Usually I put the milk in an inch above the rice.

Instructions:

Wash rice off with water then put in a saucepan.

Add salt and coconut milk to rice and begin to boil over medium heat.

Let rice boil for 15 minutes. Take off heat and cover for 5-10 minutes to continue cooking.

You'll have moist, coconut rice for dinner in less than 30 minutes!





The other rice recipe is a copy cat version from a restaurant that I like to eat at occasionally. I found this recipe and had to try it!



Ingredients:

2 cups long grain white rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
1/2 TBS sugar
1 can red beans (drained and rinsed)

Instructions:

Combine water, coconut milk, and sugar in a saucepan.

Stir in rice and beans. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18-20 minutes, until rice is tender.

Chicken & Mango Curry

I didn't grow up eating curry. For one, there weren't too many places to get it where I am from and for two, I just thought it was super hot sauce with lots of stuff that I didn't like in it. The first time I had curry was at college when my roommate made it (I then requested it for my birthday dinner meal I liked it so much!). I realize now that there are so many different kinds of curries! There's Indian curry, Chinese curry, Thai curry, Japanese curry, dry curries, wet curries, the list goes on. I saw this recipe in a magazine in Australia and wanted to try it out, so I ripped it out of the magazine and brought it home with me. I don't know what country you would classify this curry under, so we will just not complicate things by categorizing it this time.

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 lb (750g) chicken cut into bite size pieces*
1 (200g) brown onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder*
1/2 teaspoon ground chilies*
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon chicken stock powder*
1/2 cup (125 ml) boiling water
1/2 cup (125 ml) coconut milk
1 small mango chopped*
roasted unsalted cashew, to serve
cilantro leaves (coriander leaves), to serve
steamed rice, to serve

* Wow! Lots of asterisks on this one. First the chicken: Sometimes, I use less meat than it calls for and I just grabbed 3 pieces of chicken out of a bag (I am guessing it was 3/4-1 lb). Second, the curry powder: I totally got messed up and put in 1 1/2 Tablespoons instead of teaspoons, you'll notice that in the pictures. Just thought I should let you know. Third, the chilies: I didn't use them. I wasn't feeling like a spicy curry. Forth, the chicken stock powder: I couldn't find it, so I substituted 1 chicken bullion cube for the stock powder (I didn't look too hard though, so if you know where to get it, let me know please). Finally the mango: We LOVE mangos, so I used 2 medium sized ones :)

Instructions:

Start your rice so it can be done when your curry gets done. Sometimes I like coconut rice, so that's what I made for this curry.

Heat oil in large frying pan over high heat, then cook the chicken until it is browned. When it's done, remove from the pan.

Reduce heat to medium, add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring until softened. Stir in the curry powder, chili, turmeric, and cinnamon. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Notice how there is heaps of curry powder...

Dissolve the stock powder (bullion cube) in the boiling water; add to the pan along with the coconut milk. Stir mixture until boiling.

Return the chicken to the pan and simmer over low heat for 3 minutes.

Serve the curry over rice and top with mango, cashews, and cilantro leaves.

We'll definitely make this again! Fast, simple, and Delicious!!!

Mexican Rice

I realized that some of my Mexican dishes I always say, "Serve with rice and beans." I thought that I should probably post a recipe for those. Today I am featuring my moms Spanish rice. This recipe is fast and easy.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
1/3 cup oil
1 onion chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes (or you can use 1-2 fresh chopped ones)
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
3 chicken Bouillon cubes

Instructions:

Heat oil in frying pan. Add onion and rice to brown them.

Add stewed tomatoes, water, and spices. Stir it around.

Let simmer for 10 minutes and stir again. Then leave it alone for 20-30 minutes.

Serve it up with you meal and enjoy! You can pair it up with one of these recipes (1, 2, 3) or your own.

Mine didn't look quite like when my parents make it, but it
still tasted the same.

Chicken Fried Rice

Michael and I have a really good Asian friend. We played basketball with him this semester and our team ended up winning the championship! We were so excited we decided to have a "Super Asian Basketball Champion Party" with our team. I volunteered to make some fried rice. Cheng, our Asian friend, approved of it, so I decided it was good enough to put up on the blog :)

This rice was super fast and easy to make. Mostly because I used leftovers (rice and chicken). I don't like when people say add this and that and boom, your meal is done. I hate to admit that when I made this, that is exactly what I did, but I tried my best to guesstimate with the measurements.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil

4 cups cooked white rice

3 eggs

1/2 chopped onion

1 tsp garlic powder

1 package of peas

1-2 cups chicken

salt to taste

soy sauce (optional)

Instructions:

If you don't have rice and chicken already, I would suggest cooking that first. 

Heat oil in a pan and add onion and garlic powder to it. 

When the onion is softened add peas and eggs to pan. Add some salt, too.

When you have scrambled the eggs, add the chicken and rice. 

Cook until everything is warm add salt to taste and serve with soy sauce. 

After eating this I was "chi-bo-la"... That's Mandarin for "I'm full." Hope you enjoy!

Enchilada Casserole

While I was growing up, it seemed like we were always having people over to eat with us. One time I remember my dad didn't want to roll up all the enchilada's so he decided to make it into a casserole instead, so that is how this meal came about. And trust me... it's fast and delicious!

I had some ground beef left over from making lasagna and decided to whip this together. In the ingredient section I listed what I used, but you can totally use whatever you want and it will be great!

Preparation time: 15 minutes*

Bake time: 40 minutes**

* I just had to take things out of the fridge, if you were starting from scratch it would probably take you longer.

** Since all my things were cold, I baked it longer. If all your ingredients were already warm, I would just put it in oven for 10-15 minutes.

Ingredients:

Ground Beef (minced beef)

Corn Tortillas

Enchilada Sauce*

Cheese

Olives

*If you don't have enchilada sauce, try using tomato soup and put your own spices in it. That is what I would do when we lived in Australia.

Instructions:

Put a little sauce in a pan

Layer with tortillas, ground beef, enchilada sauce, cheese and olives (3 or 4 layers).

Top with tortillas, sauce, and cheese. I stuck on some extra olives just for fun :)

Pop it in the oven at 350*F (180*C).

Enjoy :)

Super simple right? My husband and I are going to try chicken, with black beans, corn, and tomatoes next time. Let me know if you try any other creative ingredients that are tasty!