Jamaican Jerked Chicken

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Summer sizzle and subtle spices are a winner in this citrus-themed marinade.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! On the hunt for a fresh, new take on grilled chicken? I was. My husband and I are trying to avoid extra oil and sugar, but are missing the saucy side of BBQ chicken. Then I ran across this recipe in the June/July 2020 issue of All Recipes magazine (which I do not recall ever ordering, but hey, whatev) and thought the ingredient list looked like it’d make for a flavor-packed piece of poultry. And boy, did it ever! We’ve made this twice this week already, serving first some friends, and then my parents in socially-distanced dinners on the deck. It was well worth taking our masks off to munch on this meat, as well as the side dish we served with it, Mexican Bean & Rice salad (also from the June/July of All Recipes magazine). Note that we DID use the—gasp!!!—dark meat, not the often-preferred white chicken breast, and it was essential to the success of this dish. Another essential? Having a husband who will slow roast it over coals on his Big Green Egg. (Although I’m sure it would be delish on a gas grill, too…) I did make a couple of adjustments to the recipe, and those are reflected below.

Serves 4

Juice of one whole large orange
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons minced green onion (aka: scallions)
2 Tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 Tablespoons lime juice, plus zest of lime
1 Tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (this is 1 package of Costco meat)

Place gallon-size Ziplock bag in a large bowl to hold it upright. Combine orange juice, soy sauce, green onion, ginger, lime juice and zest, jalapeno, garlic, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves in bag. Seal and shake until mixed well. Add chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 4-8 hours, turning once or twice during marination time.

Preheat outdoor grill to medium heat, about 325 degrees. Transfer chicken to grill, reserving marinade. Grill covered, turning halfway through, 12 to 15 minutes.

While meat is grilling, bring reserved marinade to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced by a third and slightly thickened, and for at least five minutes. Brush cooked marinade over finished meat while on grill. Serve.

Southwest Stuffed Green Peppers

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Roasted on the grill, these peppers were a great break from burgers.

It was boredom. Pure boredom. Food boredom + quarantine boredom led to this new recipe. My husband and I have decided we would like to come out of quarantine NOT double our going-into-quarantine size. (How about you?) So we’ve been trying to up our veggie intake, and reduce the oils, fats, and excessive cheeses. He wanted me to make stuffed green peppers because he remembered his mom making them years ago. Sadly, she’s passed, so there was no calling her for a recipe… My dig for recipes online came up with a lot of beefy, cheesy options that looked GREAT, but wouldn’t fit our new eating goals.

So I played around with a few ideas, looked for what needed to be used up in the fridge, and came up with this combo that really worked! It’s kind of like a burrito in a pepper, but we like burritos. No problem there. And here’s a cooking note: Rich (the husband) roasted these in his Big Green Egg for 30 minutes at 250 degrees. He used chips for smokiness, but we both thought it was too much, so he’ll roast without chips next time. And FYI, these could totally be roasted in the oven if you’re not blessed with a BGE, BTW. (LOL…)

Makes 12 peppers
(Points 3 per serving on WW)

6-12 green peppers
1.5 pounds 99% lean ground turkey
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1.5 cups cooked rice
14-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
14-ounce can corn, rinsed and drained *
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped sweet red peppers
1/4 cup fresh baby bella mushrooms, rinsed and chopped (about 6-8 mushrooms)
1/4 cup chopped red onions
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (or 1 cup – but that will increase your point value on WW)
1 cup fresh salsa, such as Salsa Lisa

Trim tops off of 6-12 green peppers ** and remove membranes in middle. Set aside for filling later. Have Big Green Egg coals ready at about 250 degrees, or preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large frying pan on medium heat, cook ground turkey in oil until no longer pink. Season to taste. (We used garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika.) Remove meat to a large mixing bowl. Stir in rice, black beans, corn, and cilantro.

Return pan to heat and add chopped peppers, mushrooms, and onions. Saute on medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add cooked pepper mix-rice to meat mixture in bowl and sprinkle in feta and stir in salsa. Toss to combine. Season to taste.

Fill peppers with meat-rice mixture. Roast in BGE on rack above coals (or put in 9″x12″ glass baking dish and bake) uncovered for 30 minutes.

*In my photo, there is no corn. But that was a miss with this recipe. So add some corn. Corn sometimes gets a bad rap. But as my good friend and co-worker Christy Becher says, no one ever got fat just from eating some corn now and then.

**I made just 6 peppers for us, and plan to use the remaining pepper filling in corn tortillas with chopped lettuce. And maybe a little greek yogurt and avocado. You know, like a burrito…

Crockpot Queso

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Creamy cheesey goodness with minimal effort. Yes, please!
(Photo credit shout-out to my daughter-in-law Ashley.)

Desperate times cause for desperate measures, and I’d say being quarantined in your home for weeks on end calls for cheese. Lots and lots of warm, gooey cheese. I ran across this recipe in the January/February 2020 issue of Martha Stewart’s Living magazine and thought it sounded too easy to be any good. But I was wrong. Well, not wrong about the easy part—it goes together in less than 5 minutes. I was wrong about the good part. It is delicious!!! I’ve now made this in my new little 2-quart Crockpot ($9.96 at Walmart, purchased using appropriate social distancing, of course) several times. Once I got over the fact that I had to purchase American cheese for the first time in my life, that is. Why is it that the lowest-quality, most bland cheese ever made is called “American cheese”? Don’t answer that…

We’ve eaten it straight up as dip for tortilla chips, and once with little smokie sausages I’d wrapped in homemade pizza dough and baked in the oven. (Yes, our food standards have slipped a bit. See: “desperate times” above.) The best part about this dip is that it is smooth and silky—and stays that way! I highly recommend this when you need a cheesy goodness fix, and no judgment from me for what you choose to slip into this dip.

Makes 4 cups

INGREDIENTS
8-ounces pepper Jack cheese, shredded
4-6 slices of American cheese
2 teaspoons cornstarch
10-ounce can diced tomatoes with chilies (Ro-tel brand is great!)
12-ounce can of evaporated milk
kosher or sea salt

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS
diced red onion
diced jalapeno
chopped cilantro

Toss cheeses and cornstarch together in 1.5 or 2-quart slow cooker. Stir in diced tomatoes and milk, and season with salt. Cover and cook until bubbling and thickened, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Stir again before serving. If desired, sprinkle diced toppings on before serving. I don’t need to tell you to enjoy, because you totally will.

Curried Chicken and Apricot Salad

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Fresh and summery, the apricots and curry add a new flavor twist to a creamy chicken salad.

Well, I sent my husband to Costco for green grapes, and he came home with apricots instead. So I had to get creative with a big box store quantity of apricots, and came up with this salad. It violates my son Justin’s “no fruity chicken” rule, but he wasn’t at the table when I served it, and everyone else thought it was a keeper!

I started with a recipe from Lunds & Byerly’s Real Food magazine, but I not only didn’t have ras el hanout Moroccan spice mix, I didn’t even know what it was. Several other ingredients in their salad recipe were “no goes” for me as well, so I started from scratch and came up with this concoction.

Makes 6 salads

For grilled chicken:
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins, fresh or thawed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper to season

For dressing:
1/2 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1/4 cup fresh chopped mint
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
5-6 fresh apricots, chopped

For salad base:
2 heads Romaine lettuce, chopped
1-2 cups chopped spinach
2 scallions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
6 baby cucumbers, chopped, or 1 regular cucumber, sliced and quartered

Toss chicken in oil, and grill until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper while grilling. Remove from heat and chop into bite-sized pieces.

While meat is cooking, combine mayo, yogurt, curry, chili powder, onion, mint, garlic, balsamic vinegar and stir until combined. Add in warm chicken and chopped apricots and toss to coat. *

Layer plates with Romaine, spinach, scallions, peppers, and cucumbers. Top with chicken and apricot mixture.

*NOTE: To prep this dish ahead of time, once you are done making chicken and apricot salad, put it in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use, for 2-48 hours.

Blueberry Scones

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Scones are the chameleon of baked goods. You can change up the flavor by simple doing different add-ins.

Scones have gotten a bad rap. Some even go so far as to call them “stones.” That’s because they have a tendency to get tough and chewy if kneaded too much, so the secret to perfect scones is to barely knead the dough and do a quick, hot bake in the oven. And the beauty of this super easy recipe is that you can do any fruit add-in you want. Or poppy seeds, or mini chocolate chips, or coconut… whatever you’re hankering for. Frozen fruit works better than fresh in this recipe, so it’s perfect for winter when fresh berries are super expensive, and often not all that flavorful. Dried fruit work great, too.

I’ve had this recipe for years and years—I clipped it from a magazine, and don’t recall which one. So pardon me for not giving credit where credit is due! My daughter-in-law, Ashley, was craving scones one Saturday morning and asked if I had a decent recipe. I hadn’t made these in a while, but dusted off the recipe and gave it a go. I’ll have to put this one back into circulation again, because it’s a winner!

Makes 8 scones

2 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons butter *
1 egg
1/2 cup Half & Half *
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (or raspberries, or chocolate chips, etc.)
OR
1/4 cup currants, craisins, raisins, etc.
OR
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

Topping
2 teaspoons Half & Half
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter into 1/2″ pieces and drop into flour mixture. Then, using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour until it looks like coarse crumbs.

In separate small bowl, beat egg with a fork. Stir in cream. Pour mixture into flour and toss until all flour is incorporated and dough hold together. (May need to add a drizzle more cream to get it to hold together at this point.) Stir in berries or other add-in ingredient.

Form dough into ball and plop onto cutting board that’s been lightly dusted with flour. Gently knead about 5-10 times, just until it holds together. Using your fingers, press into a large, flat disk. Cut into 8 wedges. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Brush with cream, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a rack for a few minutes.

To make these extra delicious, smear with cream cheese, and/or fresh jam.

*NOTE: If you don’t have Half & Half on hand, you can use milk. Then up your butter amount to 6 Tablespoons.

Turkey Basil Pesto Meatballs

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Those watching their waistlines will enjoy this light and flavorful twist on traditional heavy, red-meat meatballs. I got this recipe off of the Weight Watchers site, and loved the idea of a punch of pesto for seasoning. They went together pretty easy, and baked up quick too. I sautéed some mushrooms and heated up a jar of Trader Joe’s marinara sauce, and put the baked meatballs on a plate of zoodles (zucchini noodles), then topped with sauce. A sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese sealed it. It was quite good!

(Disclaimer: my husband got a plate of pasta for his serving. Can’t make the guy eat as many veggies as I do… And sometimes I’m just not in the mood for the “what are these?” questions, like I’m forcing him to eat live eels.)

I’d used my own homemade basil pesto which didn’t have as much salt as store-bought probably would, so the whole recipe needed an extra dash of salt after serving. Since my package of ground turkey was larger than what was called for, I also upped the amount of pesto. And I didn’t have whole wheat bread crumbs on hand, so I used regular Panko crumbs. My adjustments to the recipe are reflected below.

Makes 24 meatballs

1.5 pounds lean ground turkey, uncooked
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs, or whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 cup prepared basil pesto, low-fat, if possible
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, gently combine all ingredients—do not overmix or meatballs will be tough. Roll into 24 meatballs (1 1/4-in each); place on prepared pan. Bake until lightly browned and cooked through, 20 minutes.

Serving size: 4 meatballs
Weight Watchers points: 6

Serving Suggestion for 4

8-ounces baby bella mushrooms
1 jar Trader Joe’s marinara sauce
Prepared zoodles or pasta
Parmesan cheese for topping (1 tablespoon each)

Weight Watchers Note: With these serving suggestions, this was a 9 point meal. 1/2 cup of marinara sauce was 2 points, and the Parmesan cheese was 1 point. And it was super filling!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

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The chocolate-peanut butter duo is always a hit IMHO (in my humble opinion), so when my future daughter-in-law requested a cookie with that combo, I was ON IT. We found this winner on the McCormick website, and it appealed to me because I didn’t have to run to the grocery store for anything. Now, I don’t usually have peanuts on hand, but I’d just made the previously-posted chicken peanut stew, so I had a jar handy. Other recipes I ran across had chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups or other non-staples in them. 

Ashley and I really liked these! They aren’t achingly sweet, which they would be if you were to use chopped candy bits. They were a good balance—chocolate cookie spiked with peanuts and peanut butter flavor. YUM. So the girl my son is marrying has great taste! Both in food… and in men. 

2 cups flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 package (10-ounces) peanut butter chips
1 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, and then vanilla, mixing well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Stir in peanut butter chips and peanuts by hand.

Drop by rounded tablespoons about two inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or just until cookies are set. Cool on baking sheets for five minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Monte Cristo Spinach Sandwiches

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French toast meets meat-and-cheese sandwich in this Monte Cristo sandwich with a twist. I saw the basic recipe in a recent hard copy issue of Real Simple when I was trying to catch up on my backlog of magazine reading. But when I went back to find it so I could site my source, alas, it alluded me. So I dug it up online.

These sandwiches have been a favorite of mine since my college waitressing days, when this was on the menu at a restaurant called Steak Inn. (Shout out to Tom, Patti, Susan and Judy, my former fellow servers!!!) On double-shift days, I’d treat myself to one of these, knowing the real secret to this sandwich’s success is that it uses raspberry jam as a condiment. When I was reminded about these in Real Simple, I thought, hmmmm, wouldn’t that be super delicious with my homemade cranberry conserve? Why yes, it would! If you have the time, whip up a batch of that to top your sammie. Your tastebuds will be glad you did.

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 slices Swiss or white sharp cheddar cheese
4 slices thinly sliced deli ham or turkey
½ cup fresh spinach leaves*
4 white sandwich bread slices—day old or stale bread works best!
2 large eggs
½ cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Raspberry jam or cranberry conserve, for serving

Divide mustard, cheese, ham/turkey, and spinach evenly between each of two bread slices; cover each with a bread slice. Whisk together eggs and milk in a medium bowl.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium. Dip sandwiches in milk mixture; transfer to skillet, and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve with raspberry jam or cranberry conserve.

*NOTE: I’ve added spinach to the Real Simple recipe. Again, always trying to up my veggie intake in my meals…

Chewy Chocolate Ginger Cookies

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Double-doses of ginger—fresh and ground—amp up the flavor in these chocolate and spice morsels. These came from Martha Stewart’s website, and I’ve done some updates as dear Martha sometimes takes things a step too far—like  lining every baking sheet with parchment paper and chilling dough not once, but twice, etc. I made them as I’ve recorded below, and they were just fine! And a lot less labor-intensive.Given the amount of spices and overall richness of these cookies, my taste testers thought they would be best served warm with a bowl of vanilla ice cream. But try them yourselves, and you be the judge!Makes 1½ dozen cookies1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1½ tablespoons boiling water; set aside.

Beat butter with brown sugar until combined. Add fresh ginger and mix on high until butter is light in color. Beat in molasses. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Slowly add to butter mixture, with baking soda mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined.

Stir in chocolate morsels by hand. Scoop teaspoons of dough and roll into balls. Roll dough balls in ¼ cup granulated sugar and place 2-inches apart on baking sheets. Transfer to oven and bake until surfaces crack slightly, about 10-12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Torte

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Avoiding wheat? Here’s a sweet fudgy treat just for you. My co-worker Nita went the extra mile for my birthday recently, digging around online to find a gluten-free cake option. She lucked out when she stumbled on this treasure, because it’s the rare flourless baked good that actually tastes GREAT!

So many gluten-free cakes and cookies taste like A) glue or B) sand. I’d given up trying to make gluten-free cakes or cookies. Better to just eat a chunk of chocolate or handful of peanut butter M&M’s to assuage the sweet tooth! In fact, another co-worker once texted me, asking what local bakeries had good gluten-free muffins. I texted back, “There is no such thing as a good gluten-free muffin.” Mary’s response was crying laughing emoji and “Seriously, where can I get good gluten-free muffins?” And I texted again, “Good gluten-free is an oxymoron. I’m serious, there is no such thing as a good gluten-free muffin!” (I’m kinda proud of myself for using “oxymoron” in a text. No need to dumb down our vocab just cause we’re using our thumbs, now is there? crying laughing emoji…)

But Nita found an exception to the rule (on allrecipes.com, flourless chocolate cake II), and I think you’ll love this quick and easy recipe as much as I do. I’ve made it a couple times now—for one of our famous November family birthday parties (4 outta 7 have b-days that month), and again for my book club. Raves all around.

Makes 8 Servings

4 – 1-ounce squares semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300° Fahrenheit. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with butter, and dust with cocoa powder (this keeps it entirely gluten-free).

Put chocolate and butter in a large glass measuring cup and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir, and repeat for an additional 30-60 seconds as needed to melt chocolate. In large mixing bowl, combine melted butter and chocolate, sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla, and stir with wooden spoon until just combined.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cool 15 minutes, then serve right away with ice cream, or let cook completely and serve next day.

TIP #1: Cover with dish towel or loose foil if keeping overnight. If covered with plastic wrap or tight tin foil, it will get soggy.

TIP #2: Anyone else have trouble cutting brownie-like treats? They seem to get all crumbly and fall apart as you try to slice them, and even the sharpest knife won’t help. My fellow book clubber, Sherie, said she always cuts brownies and gooey bars with a plastic knife, so I tried it. VOILA! It worked like a charm. #kitchenhack