Tag Archives: grill

Coconut Lime Shrimp Skewers

In our house shrimp is always a welcomed weeknight dish. By the time we get home from the gym it is usually after 6pm and our appetites are ravenous. If I haven’t prepared something on the weekend, I need our post-gym dinners to get on the table quick! This recipe goes from skewering to eating all in under a half an hour.

I love citrus based shrimp marinades (this one is a fave!) but shrimp is so delicate that you can’t let it sit in citrus too long or it begins to cook. While Melissa’s Ginger Lime Shrimp recipe is my go-to when I have an 40 minutes to prep/marinate, I wanted to find something that I could let sit overnight without risking the shrimp getting chewy and cooked by the citrus. This way I could prep it on a Sunday and have Post-Gym protein ready to go on the grill right when we got home on Monday — no waiting required. Then I found this recipe — similar flavors, but a slightly more forgiving marinade. Yay, coconut milk! Totally awesome in a weeknight pinch!

Check it out:

Coconut Lime Shrimp Skewers
Author: Adapted from My Recipes
Ingredients
  • 1 Tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 Tablespoon grated lime zest
  • 2 Tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 (14 oz.) can Coconut Milke
  • 2 lbs shrimp (21-26 ct) peeled and deveined
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl combine first five ingredients. Add shrimp, tossing to coat and chill, covered, at least one hour but up to 24.
  2. Meanwhile, soak skewers if using wood for up to an hour.
  3. When you are ready to cook, prepare a grill on high heat (450-550 degrees) and place 3-5 shrimp on skewers.
  4. Grill, turning once, until flesh has turned pink and is slightly charred. About 3 minutes each side.
  5. Serve garnished with salt, a squeeze of lime juice and extra lime wedges on the side.
  6. Enjoy!

;

The flavors almost had me convinced I was enjoying a tropical vacation on a Monday night. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalmost. 🙂


Blackened Grilled Chicken


Blackened is a word where the more you type it, the more it doesn’t look like a real word. I assure you it is. And speaking of real, this blackened chicken is REAL-ly DELICIOUS.

In my arsenal of super simple recipes, this one ranks close to the top.  I’ve made this chicken every week since we’ve been doing the Whole 30 because I can prep and grill it quickly on Sunday and it’s perfect to have laying around as Post-workout protein, a salad topping for a quick lunch, or to chop into chunks and mix up with some homemade mayo and celery for a spicy Cajun chicken salad.

Simplicity, for the win.

Blackening is a cooking technique that involves butter, spices and a hot cast iron skillet, and is traditionally used for fish. But if you mix up a blackening rub and use it on grilled chicken, you evoke all the fun and flavor of blackening, but without having to stand in front of a hot stove during the summer.

So let’s talk about essential steps. There are three. You ready?

3 Step Blackened Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
  • 1/4 Cup Salt
  • 1 Quart Water
  • 4-6 Large Chicken Breasts
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon ground dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon ground dried thyme
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Oil for your grill
Instructions
  1. Brine Your Chicken Breasts — This sounds very fancy but it is actually really easy. Ever since I learned how to do this, I won’t grill chicken breasts without brining. It makes THAT big of a difference. All you do is throw your chicken breasts in a gallon sized ziploc bag. Then in a pyrex mix 1/4 Cup of Salt into 1 Quart of water until it is mostly dissolved. Pour the mixture into your bag of chicken and let it sit for an hour or two. Note: I keep my ziploc bag inside another bowl just in case it decides to leak or something. Chicken juice leaking in the fridge is No Bueno.
  2. Liberally Sprinkle Your Rub Onto The Chicken. Then, um…Rub. Get a good coating on each side so it can get all up in your chicken. The brine gives you moisture and flavor from the inside, the rub is giving you a little FLAVA for the outside.
  3. Oil Up Your Grill and Grill Out! Make sure to oil the grates of your grill so there is no sticking (pour a little on a paper towel, turn the heat down for a quick second, rub your grates, presto!) Grill your chicken breasts until they are full cooked inside (depends on the size and thickness of your breast, but I usually find it to be somewhere between 5 minutes each side with the grill open, and a few minutes with grill closed.)

 

See? I told you it was easy!


Grilled Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

Yep, it tastes as good as it looks! Even on a paper plate! (Food Blogging Fail…BAHAHAHAH!)

I mentioned on this week and last week’s menu a little recipe for Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs and you all — IT IS A KEEPER!

I’m a super fan of marinades that you can easily make on hand with ingredients you normally have lying around. I’m also a fan of marinades that are man pleasing and delicious. This one satisfies all of the above.

I used chicken thighs because I am having a love affair with them. Have you enjoyed chicken thighs lately? I always thought they were kind of slimy and gross looking, but then I realized — oh wait, that’s ALL CHICKEN! But chicken thighs have the added benefit of holding up wonderfully on the grill because they are so juicy! The outside gets nice and crispy, while the inside stays completely delicious and doesn’t dry out. They are worth trying in this marinade if you haven’t! That said, it would also go lovely with chicken breasts, so never fear if you aren’t feeling adventurous.

Chicken thighs as an adventure? My life is really a Thrill-A-Minute ain’t it?

So I took the original recipe and changed a few things to make it slightly more Paleo friendly (substitutes for refined sugar and tweaked the mustards due to what I had on hand) but the truth is this recipe is a bit of a sweet treat. But the other truth is — it is AWESOME! So use that information for good or for evil!

I love this recipe is best on the grill, but it would also be enjoyable cooked in a pan or baked. I have done both and it’s quite adaptable. Also, it is November, so you know — choose the cooking method that best works for your weather situation!
*****

Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs
Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients

9-10 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs (or 4 Breasts)
1/3 Cup of Stone Ground Mustard
3 TBS Honey
3 TBS Maple Syrup
3 TBS Yellow Mustard
1/4 Onion, grated
1 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Coconut Aminos (or Soy Sauce if you use that)
1 tsp black pepper

Method

1. Mix up all those ingredients in a little Pyrex. It won’t look glamorous, but it will be good.

Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

2. Marinate your chicken for 2-12 hours. (I’ve even done it the night before I grilled and left it in the fridge. Lazy man marinating!)

3. Before you grill (AND THIS IS IMPORTANT) season your chicken with salt. I used probably about 1/2-1 tsp.

4. Grill! (or pan fry, or bake!)

When I grill chicken thighs I generally do it over fairly high heat and do 5 mins with the grill open, 3-5 minutes closed, flip and 5 minutes with the grill open. Depending on the size and thickness of your thighs you may need additional time, but this works pretty flawlessly.

Oh, I forgot Step 5

5. EAT THEM WITH EVERYTHING! Vegetables, salads, cold out of the fridge — it’s all delicious baby!

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