The Joy of Zesting

Some days, when I don't feel like cooking, I oh-so-casually suggest to Joey that we fire up the grill... because if there's one thing my man loves (besides yours truly, of course), its grilling. Early on in grilling season, we Joey made an amazing batch of kabobs (kebobs? kebabs?). We were both craving them again, but given that the main ingredient in the marinade is Miracle Whip, we knew they weren't the healthiest thing we could eat. I've also been trying to avoid processed foods to see if my migraines improve at all with a more natural diet, and Miracle Whip is... well, pretty processed.

So we set off to find a healthier, but equally delicious, kabob recipe. I was inspired by the Clean Eating Kebob recipe I found on The Gracious Pantry website (Please, go check it out! Tiffany does an incredible job not only creating her own healthy recipes, but also taking pictures of her creations that look so yummy, I pretty much want to lick the computer monitor.)

The recipe first caught my eye because it called for lemon zest. Yessss! A chance to use that sweet zester we got for a wedding present. I just knew registering for it was a crucial step in starting our lives together.

I made several adaptations to Tiffany's recipe - she called for just chicken and asparagus, but I used the tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, and onions that I had on hand. Her recipe also calls for a ground herb called savory. I checked in two stores and neither of them carried savory, so I substituted Mrs. Dash Original Blend Seasoning. I figured it tastes pretty savory any time I've ever used it, so its pretty much the same thing... right?

Lemon Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 large zucchini, cut into chunks
• 1 large yellow squash, cut into chunks
• 1 white onion, cut into chunks (red onions are great for grilling, but I avoid them cuz I usually taste 'em for days. TMI? Sorry.)
• 2 tsp Mrs. Dash
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp olive oil

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in a large dish and mix it up, so chicken and veggies are coated with oil and herbs.
2. Optional step: Cover and marinate chicken and veggies up to one hour in the refrigerator. (I was too impatient for this step.)
3. Skewer the chicken and veggies. Make sure you create a beautiful pattern. They taste better that way, promise.
4. Hand skewers to husband for grilling - 10 to 15 minutes on the grill, turning kabobs after 5 to 7 minutes 

Simple as that! And for those of you who don't love zesting lemons quite as much as I do, you can find the original Miracle Whip kabob recipe here. Enjoy!

Mangos and Other Miscellany

I've been feeling sentimental today, and I just realized why. Mangos. Or mangoes, if you prefer. (Don't worry, I consulted Google and either spelling is acceptable.) They are on sale at both Publix and Kroger this week, which means two things - they must be in season somewhere, and I stocked up.

Some background information - My dad is from Mexico City. He moved to the U.S. to attend grad school at Penn State, where he met my mom, got married, and settled in to a new life filled with gringos and snow. Oh, and two adorable children, of course. Growing up, this meant many trips to Mexico to visit my dad's family. Being a notoriously picky eater as a child, I spent many of these visits to the motherland sustaining myself on only mangos and a delicious salted beef called cecina. (The story has a happy ending. I later came to my senses and now joyfully indulge in all food. All of it.)

Never heard of cecina? Understandable. It is most likely illegal to sell in the United States since preparing it involves laying the thinly sliced and heavily salted meat out in the sun for hours. If you want to learn more - and who wouldn't - check out the webpage I published about cecina for a project in college. That's right. A webpage about beef. You're welcome.

Anyway, since mangos were pretty much the only thing I would eat, my grandparents were kind enough to prepare them for me often. One of my favorite childhood memories is eating breakfast with my grandfather (who my brother and I called "Guty") in the backyard of their home in Cocoyoc, my bare feet tapping on the red tiles of the patio, sweet mango juice dripping down my arms, while we sat peacefully and listened to the crows of the rooster in a neighboring yard.

I have many wonderful memories of summers spent in Mexico with my family - not all of them involving mangos - but the fact is, after all these years, the taste and smell of a mango takes me right back to those times.

In the spirit of this mango love, I decided to share a recipe we made tonight from the bounty I purchased yesterday.

Mango Glazed Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 4 center cut pork rib chops
• 2 mangos
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons Cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Cut, then puree mangos
2. Mix mango puree, honey, lime juice, cayenne pepper and salt
3. Pour half of mixture over pork chops and marinate for at least 30 minutes
4. Sear pork chops for 1 minute on each side over high heat
5. Grill at medium high heat for 5 to 7 minutes on each side
6. Top with remaining glaze

Serves 4

In honor of the true randomness of these thoughts tonight, I am linking up with Carissa at Lowercase Letters. Yes, this is my first link up. Yes, I am quite excited about it.

 

Alright y'all... Have a happy Monday. And go eat some mangos.

Happiness in a Muffin Tin

I am currently the poster child of senioritis. The symptoms of this debilitating disease consist of wearing pajamas for hours on end, eating Cheetos while laying on the couch, and asking illogical questions such as, "Can't this paper write itself?" You might think that being a mere two papers away from graduation would mean I would be eager to make my fingers do a little tap dance across the keyboard to finish them up and turn them in. But no, I've been frozen in a state of uselessness in which I dream about what it would feel like to be done with this work, without ever actually making any progress towards finishing the papers. So, just two papers to go - What's the most logical thing to do? Bake. Obviously.

Not that I have any sort of baking skills. Out of pure desperation and boredom during the snowstorm (aka three inches of snow) that completely shut down the city of Atlanta for a full week (the upstate New Yorker in me laughs heartily at this.), I tried to bake a cake from scratch. What could go wrong? Especially since Joey will devour anything that is sweet edible. Yet, somehow, I managed to make a cake that even my garbage disposal husband wouldn't eat.

But I digress. This time, I decided to bake something that even I couldn't ruin. I stumbled across it on Pinterest a few weeks ago and have been hungrily eying the recipe ever since. It came without a name, but now that I have created this masterpiece, I have dubbed this treat, "Happiness in a Muffin Tin". It's very, very complicated to make...

Ingredients

• Break and bake cookies
• Brownie batter (Not from scratch, silly. From a box.)
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Directions

1. Leave half written paper up on the computer screen so you can still feign productivity.
2. Shove a break and bake cookie into the bottom of each muffin tin
3. Open the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Eat a few.
4. Take what's left and set one on top of each cookie smoosh
5. Whip up that brownie batter
6. Top off each muffin tin with brownie batter until it is about 3/4 full
7. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes
8. Eat two before they cool, then share

Behold... the results:

 

Anything that leaves a grease smear of that caliber must be pure deliciousness. I should probably catch senioritis more often.