Eye for a Recipe

I’m always on the lookout for recipes that call for chicken thighs. They are moist, tasty and usually much cheaper than chicken breasts. This recipe from the June 2011 issue of Canadian Living calls for skinless, boneless chicken thighs, but I think it would also work well with skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

The chicken is tossed in an Asian-inspired marinade, grilled, and basted for the last few minutes until it is glazed. It is served with a delicious cucumber salad that takes no time at all to make.

Marinate the chicken for 10 minutes

Grill, turning once

Basting the chicken for its last few minutes on the grill creates a delicious, sticky glaze

Sticky glazed grilled chicken with cucumber salad

To avoid additives and preservatives in this recipe, use fresh lime juice, tamari sauce and sesame oil without artificial ingredients. Rice vinegar is used in the salad dressing; I prefer the flavour of Marukan seasoned rice vinegar.

Ingredients:

Chicken

1/4 liquid honey
2  tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp sodium-reduced tamari soy sauce
1  tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp toasted sesame seedstoasted sesame seeds

Cucumber Salad

1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tsp liquid honey
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1 English cucumber, thinly sliced diagonally
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Preparation:

In large bowl, combine honey, lime juice, tamari sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger; remove 3 tbsp and set aside. Add chicken to bowl, turning to coat; marinate for 10 minutes.

Cucumber Salad: Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk together vinegar, honey, sesame oil, hot pepper flakes and salt. Add cucumber and mix until coated; set aside in refrigerator.

Place chicken on greased grill over medium heat; close lid and grill, turning once and brushing with reserved marinade in final 2 minutes, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced, about 10 minutes.

Stir green onions into salad. Sprinkle sesame seeds over salad and chicken. Serves 4.

From the June 2011 issue of Canadian Living

This recipe from the June 2011 issue of Bon Appetit is fun to make and perfect for outdoor dining. First, season water with onion, garlic, lemon and spices and simmer to make a delicious stock. Add shrimp, still in their shells, and simmer for three minutes.

Season water with onion, garlic and spices

Simmer the stock before adding shrimp

To ensure the shrimp stop cooking, but still spend enough time in the stock to absorb its flavours, add ice cubes!

Ice cubes stop the shrimp from overcooking

Now that the late summer harvest is at its peak, serve these delicious shrimp with corn on the cob, boiled potatoes and sliced tomatoes with fresh basil.

Eat these delicious shrimp in the shell with your hands

Serve with corn on the cob

To avoid additive and preservatives in this recipe, use an all-natural hot sauce, such as Tabasco original sauce.

Ingredients:

2 onions, halved crosswise

1 head of garlic, halved crosswise

5 whole cloves

3 bay leaves

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

4 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

2 teaspoons dill seeds

2 teaspoons whole allspice

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 lemon, halved

5 dashes (or more) hot pepper sauce

1 1/2 pounds unpeeled large shrimp (about 30)

Preparation:

Combine first 12 ingredients and 8 cups water in a large pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 20 minutes. Squeeze in juice from lemon; add lemon to pot. Add hot sauce and shrimp. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 minutes.

Turn off heat, add 4 cups ice cubes, and steep for 5 minutes. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and place on a newspaper-lined baking sheet. Serve with additional hot sauce, if desired. Serves four.

From the June 2011 issue of Bon Appetit

Pasta salads and summer just go together, and this recipe from Canadian Living has been a favourite of ours for years. It goes well with grilled meats and can be served as vegetarian entrée. It serves a crowd and – best of all – it can be made ahead.

Toss the cooked pasta with half the dressing and let it cool

Add tomatoes, onion, parsley, olives, cucumber and feta cheese

To avoid additives and preservatives in this recipe, be sure to use fresh lemon juice. Check the ingredients on the anchovy paste, black olives and feta to be sure they are free of colour and preservatives.

This delicious salad can be made a day in advance

Ingredients:

8 cups farfalle (bow tie pasta)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tbsp anchovy paste (comes in a tube; available at fish stores; keep in fridge)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried oregano

Pinch each salt and pepper

1 small cucumber

2 cups small cherry tomatoes

1 cup small black olives (I use kalamata)

1 cup chopped red onion

½ cup chopped fresh parsely

1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 4 oz)

Preparation:

In large pot of boiling salted water, cook farfalle for 8 to 12 minutes until tender but firm; drain well. Meanwhile, whisk together oil, lemon juice, anchovy paste, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper; toss half with pasta. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Cut cucumber in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and thinly slice crosswise. Add to pasta along with tomatoes, olives, onion, parsley and remaining dressing; toss to coat well. Gently stir in feta cheese. Salad can be served right away or covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day. Serves 8-10.

From the Canadian Living Pasta Cookbook

This new find from the June 2011 issue of Everyday Food is another quick, easy and tasty dish that minimizes the time you spend in a hot kitchen. Cube a pork tenderloin, place the cubes on skewers with snap peas (or snow peas, which I used) and scallions and grill. Just before the kebabs are done, brush them with a ginger-hoisin sauce.

Place cubed pork tenderloin on skewers with snow peas and scallions

The kebabs are brushed with a ginger-hoisin glaze for the last few minutes of cooking

I have never been able to find hoisin sauce that does not contain additives or preservatives, so I make my own (you can find the recipe under my November 28, 2010 post about Kung Pao Shrimp). To avoid other additives and preservatives in this recipe, use tamari instead of soy sauce.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger (from a 1-inch piece)

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 pork tenderloin (about 3/4 pound), cut into 3/4-inch slices or cubes

5 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces

1/2 pound snap peas, trimmed

Preparation:

Heat a grill to medium. Clean and lightly oil hot grill. In a small bowl, stir together hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger, and rice vinegar.

Alternately thread pork tenderloin, scallions, and snap peas onto four 8-inch skewers. Grill, turning occasionally, until pork is cooked through and vegetables are charred, about 9 minutes. Brush kebabs with hoisin mixture and cook 1 minute more, turning once, until mixture begins to bubble.

From the June 2011 issue of Everyday Food

This recipe from the July 2011 issue of Food and Wine is fast, easy and perfect for a warm evening when you don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen or over the grill. The capers and lemon add great tangy flavour to the oregano.  I only soaked the capers for a few minutes, instead of an hour, and they were fine.

Toss shrimp with oil, salt, pepper and oregano and place on skewers

This sauce would also be great spooned over grilled fish. If you use bamboo skewers, be sure to soak them for at least 30 minutes so they don’t disintegrate on the grill.

Grilled shrimp with oregano and lemon

To avoid additives and preservatives in this recipe, use capers without sodium benzoate, such as Unico brand, and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Ingredients:

½ cup salted capers—rinsed, soaked for 1 hour and drained

½ cup oregano leaves

1 garlic clove, minced

¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Freshly ground pepper

2 ½ pounds large shrimp, shelled and deveined

Salt

Preparation:

On a cutting board, finely chop the drained capers with the oregano leaves and garlic. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, along with the lemon zest and lemon juice. Season the sauce with pepper.

Light a grill. In a large bowl, toss the shrimp with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper (and some chopped oregano, if you wish). Thread the shrimp onto metal skewers and grill over high heat, turning once, until the shrimp are lightly charred and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the shrimp from the skewers and transfer them to a platter.

Spoon the sauce on top and serve. Serves 8. The sauce can be refrigerated overnight.

From the July 2011 issue of Food and Wine

This recipe from the Summer 2011 issue of the LCBO’s Food and Drink is a new favourite. Chicken breasts are marinated in soy sauce, oil and ginger root, grilled and then glazed with honey during the last few minutes of cooking. Meanwhile, vegetables, eggs and noodles are stir fried with garlic, ginger, curry paste, soy sauce and hot chili sauce.

I used angel hair pasta instead of rice vermicelli

Stir-fry egg until just set

Combine noodles, vegetables and spices and top with grilled chicken

To serve, place slices of the grilled chicken over the noodle mixture. You can make the chicken ahead of time, so this would be a great party/buffet dish. I used angel hair pasta instead of rice noodles and it worked fine; I also substituted asparagus and a hot banana pepper for the carrots and celery.

Singapore Noodles with Burnished Barbecue Chicken

To avoid additives and preservatives in this recipe, use tamari sauce instead of soy, curry paste that is all-natural (I use Thai Kitchen brand) and a hot sauce that is free of colour and chemicals (I use Tabasco original flavour sauce).

Ingredients:

Chicken

1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp pureed ginger root

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, each about 8 oz.

¼ cup liquid honey

Noodles

12 oz. rice vermicelli or angel hair pasta

Hot water (if using rice noodles)

3 tbsp vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

6 carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal

4 stalks celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal

2 onions, thinly sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 sweet red peppers, thinly sliced

2 tbsp minced ginger root

1/3 cup Indian yellow curry paste

2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari

1 tbsp Asian hot chili sauce

Chopped fresh cilantro

Lime wedges

Preparation:

For the chicken, combine soy sauce, oil and ginger in a shallow dish or sealable plastic bag Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover or seal bag and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or for up to 1 day.

Preheat barbecue to medium

Remove chicken from marinade, discarding any excess. Grill, covered and turning once, 5 to 6 minutes per side or until no longer pink inside. Brush 1 side with honey, turn and grill for 1 minute. Brush remaining side with honey, turn and grill for 1 minute or until well glazed. Transfer to a bowl or cutting board, tent with foil, and cool slightly. Shred chicken into large pieces or slice thinly.

Soak rice vermicelli in a large bowl of hot water for about 5 minutes until softened or according to package directions. Drain and set aside (if using angel hair pasta, cook in boiling salted water until tender but still firm).

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil over high heat in a large wok or pan and swirl to coat. Pour in eggs and fry without stirring until almost set. Stir to break up eggs slightly and fry until just set, than transfer to a plate. Add half of remaining oil to wok. In 2 batches, stir-fry carrots, celery and onions for 3 to 4 minutes or until onions are softened. Transfer to a bowl. Add remaining oil between batches. Add garlic, red peppers, ginger and curry paste to wok and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until peppers are tender.

Return carrot mixture to wok and add noodles, soy sauce and chili sauce. Fry, stirring gently, but thoroughly, with 2 large spatulas, until noodles are well coated in spices and steaming. Add eggs and stir just to combine. Arrange noodles on a platter and add chicken. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges. Serve with extra chili sauce on the side. Serves 10 to 12.

From the Summer 2011 issue of Food and Drink

This new find from the Summer 2011 issue of Food and Drink is a great accompaniment to any grilled meat. Small red potatoes are tossed with garlic, olive oil and lemon juice, placed in a pan, covered and grilled on the barbecue.

Toss potatoes, oil, lemon juice and garlic in metal or disposable foil pan

The cooked potatoes are then tossed with Parmesan cheese and chopped basil. The potatoes are delicious, and, if you use a disposable foil pan, as I did, there is no clean-up. Toss the potatoes a few times during cooking to make sure they brown evenly.

Toss the cooked potatoes with basil and grated Parmesan

To avoid additives and preservatives in this recipe, use fresh lemon juice and Parmesan without colour.

These potatoes are delicious with any grilled meat

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs small red new potatoes, scrubbed

12 cloves garlic, peeled

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup grated Parmesan

2 tbsp chopped basil

Preparation:

Preheat grill to high. Place potatoes in metal baking dish (or disposable foil pan). Add garlic, toss with olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Cover baking dish with foil and grill for 20 to 25 minutes, shaking pan occasionally, or until potatoes are tender and lightly browned.

Remove from heat; sprinkle with Parmesan and basil and toss until cheese is melted and well combined. Serves 4.

From the Summer 2011 issue of Food and Drink

The latest issue of Food and Drink has arrived and it includes several great summer recipes. If you like skewers, try this pork souvlaki, which is served with a delicious yogurt sauce. The pork is marinated in oil, lemon juice, oregano and garlic before grilling. If you use wooden skewers, soak them for at least 30 minutes in water so they don’t burn up on the grill.

Marinate the pork in oil, lemon juice, oregano and garlic

To thicken the yogurt for the sauce, place 2 cups of it in a sieve lined with a paper towel or coffee filter and place the sieve in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Discard the clear whey in the bowl and use the thickened yogurt.

Thicken the yogurt for the sauce for several hours or overnight

To avoid additives and preservatives in this recipe, be sure to use fresh lemon juice, yogurt without colour or artificial ingredients and red wine vinegar that contains naturally occurring sulfites.

Pork Souvlaki

Ingredients:

Pork

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp fresh oregano

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 ½ lbs pork tenderloin, but into 1-inch cubes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Yogurt Sauce

2 cups plain yogurt, drained to yield 1 cup thick yogurt

½ cup grated cucumber, liquid squeezed out

3 tbsp chopped green onion

2 tbsp chopped coriander

1 tsp chopped garlic

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

Preparation:

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and garlic in a bowl. Add pork and toss to coat. Season pork with salt and pepper. Divide pork between four skewers and set aside.

Combine yogurt, grated cucumber, green onion, coriander, garlic, vinegar and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat grill to high.

Place pork skewers on grill and grill on all four sides for 2-3 minutes per side, 8-12 minutes total, or until pork is cooked through with just a tinge of pink in the centre. Serve with warmed pita bread and yogurt sauce. Serves 4.

From the Summer 2011 issue of Food and Drink