Meat

Tequila-Glazed Grilled Chicken

April 10, 2012
Shannon
3 comments
chicken, chipotle, food, pineapple, tequila

I’ve experimented with different kinds of rubs to put on chicken over the years and have managed to accumulate a pretty big pile of rub recipes. I’ve decided that any kind of spice-rubbed chicken is probably my favorite way of eating chicken any given time – more so than chicken parmesan or fried chicken. I have a healthy collection of spices in my cabinet so I’m always prepared for anything. So, what’s better than spice-rubbed chicken? Glazed spice-rubbed chicken!

This Tequila-Glazed Grilled Chicken not only has a rub of cumin, chili powder, and chipotle chili powder (one of my favorites!) but it’s also glazed with a sauce reduction of tequila, pineapple juice, honey, lime, and red pepper flake. The rub provides a ton of flavor and a little bit of heat which pairs wonderfully with the slight sweetness of the glaze. I used regular chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs but use whatever you like and cook accordingly. And don’t worry if you don’t like tequila – it provides a subtle background flavor without making this taste like a drunken chicken dish. I’m going out on a limb here and calling this one of my favorite chicken dishes so far so please, give it a try!

The ingredients:

Combine the cumin, chili powder, salt, and chipotle chili powder and rub evenly over the chicken.

In a small pan, bring the pineapple juice, tequila, and honey to a boil and cook until reduced (about 10 minutes). Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl and add to the juice mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in lime rind, lime juice, and crushed red pepper.

Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill, basting each side occasionally with juice mixture, until chicken is cooked thoroughly (approximately 8-10 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 165ºF internally.)

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

Chicken breasts

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Sausage-Spinach Quinoa Bowl

I admit that I’m late to the quinoa party. Quinoa recipes are everywhere now and I’d been so curious about this superfood for a while but had never tried it. My grocery store doesn’t carry it so I finally went to another grocery store slightly farther away that always seems to carry whatever it is that my grocery store doesn’t. When the check-out girl saw my bag of quinoa, she asked me if it was good, saying her mom wanted to try it for weight loss. I came home and made a batch just to keep on hand to eat as a side in place of my usual brown rice. Even though brown rice is good for your diet, quinoa is better because it’s a complete protein (meaning it has all of the essential amino acids we need). People say it has a nutty taste but I think it tastes more like corn which isn’t at all what I expected.

I wanted to try a recipe using quinoa in place of rice and since the spinach in my produce drawer was close to going bad and I needed to cook the leftover turkey sausage from the gratin I made earlier this week, the perfect dish to make was Sausage-Spinach Quinoa Bowl. With hot turkey sausage, spinach, and quinoa, this dish came together very quickly since I’d already cooked the quinoa. (Rinse the quinoa thoroughly. Bring one part quinoa, two parts water to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.) The spiciness of the turkey sausage pairs terrifically with the bitter spinach and the red pepper flake gives it the slightest hint of kick. The quinoa made for a great substitute for the rice which is exactly what I was hoping it would do. I look forward to making this superfood more in the future!

The ingredients:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet and cook sausage and red pepper over medium-high heat until browned and crumbled.

Add in garlic and cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

Add in spinach and cook 30 seconds or until spinach begins to wilt.

Stir in prepared rice or quinoa; cook 1 minute or until heated.

Additions: None

Omissions:

Parmesan cheese

Substitutions:

Quinoa

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Turkey Sausage, Mushroom, and Potato Gratin

We’ve been so lucky in the Philadelphia area lately because the weather has been nice and warm, averaging in the 70s. But this past weekend, the temperate dropped to the 50s, the skies turned gray and down came the rain. Despite the fact that it brought a rainbow on Saturday afternoon and blue skies had returned by Sunday afternoon, it sent me right back into hybernation mode and all I wanted was comfort food. I initially thought that this recipe for Turkey Sausage, Mushroom, and Potato Gratin would be good for Easter but in my comfort food rage, I couldn’t stop myself from making it a little bit early.

I have to tell you that I looooooove turkey sausage. Pretty much any recipe I’ve made for this blog with turkey sausage has gotten my highest rating. I loved sausage as a kid, especially when smothered in maple syrup, and I regularly snacked on veggie sausage links when I was a vegetarian (and still do!). So, it shouldn’t surprise you when I tell you – I. Love. This. Dish! In fact, this is probably one of my favorite dishes I’ve made recently. Filled with creamy potatoes, spicy sausage, earthy mushrooms and topped with Swiss cheese and fresh thyme, this is a comforting dish that would be great for either brunch or dinner. I hunkered down with a bowl of this on Sunday afternoon while I watched The Shining for the 600th time. Comforting indeed!

The ingredients:

Heat sausage in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté for 5 minutes or until browned, breaking up the sausage into crumbles. Remove the sausage from pan and wipe the pan with paper towels.

Melt the butter in the pan and add onion, sautéing for 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 6 minutes. Add the potatoes and salt and sauté for 5 minutes or until browned.