Summer Favorites Part 1: Marinades Are Your Summer Friend

We've been experiencing some seriously unseasonable warm weather here in the Pacific Northwest. After a milder than mild winter, followed by an exceptionally warm spring we have already experienced temperatures in the high 80's and low 90's - something we don't usually experience until July or August.  It's been amazing, but it doesn't exactly inspire me to turn on the oven.

For Steven and I, once the mercury hits the 80's, we much prefer meals that are cool and fresh.  This doesn't mean I stop cooking altogether (and yes, we do grill too), but it does mean I rely on the stove top more and the oven less and it means I'm going to use Marinades... A lot.  Marinades are handy any time of year, but for me, they are really key to ensuring our chicken and steak are filled with flavor and sure to come out tender and juicy.

I know I've mentioned in previous posts that I like to purchase meats for us in the larger "value pack" sizes.  Summer is no exception to this rule, but since we're going to want meals quick on weeknights I tend to handle those large packages of chicken or steak a bit differently.  Instead of dividing them up and throwing them straight into the freezer, I will throw them in a marinade or coat them in a rub and let them hang out in the fridge. This is especially nice with steaks - the longer the steak marinades, the more tender it seems to come out.  If you find, after a couple of days, that you're not going to cook them after all, you can store them in the freezer at that point.  When I cook the marinaded protein, I go ahead and cook it all, even if we only need half of it for that  night's dinner - that way I already have pre-cooked and chilled protein to throw into a salad, onto a sandwich or nachos the next night.

I have a couple go to, storebought seasoning blends I really like.  You're probably already familiar with this one:

It's really great mixed right into ground beef for burgers.  Of course, it 's great for steak, but it's also good on chicken and pork.  

I may have shared this one in the past:

My neighbor turned me on to this one - she uses it in her white chicken chili and now I do too, but it's also great on fish, steak, pork and of course, grilled chicken.  It's the most-used store-bought blend I own.  It's a bit difficult to get ahold of here where I live.  We can only get it at Costco and it's only offered seasonally, so I usually try to pick up several containers of it the moment it becomes available.  One of these days, I'll make my own scratch version and then I can use it to my heart's content!  

A couple other things I couldn't live without in my kitchen, particularly in the summer is a good supply of citrus fruits (I try to keep lemons and limes on-hand year-round, actually), some tasty extra virgin olive oil... 

My juicer and microplane (for zesting)...

...and a supply of self-sealing plastic bags.

So, without further ado, here's a couple marinades I used today.  I made up some Lemon Pepper marinade for a Chicken Orzo salad I planned for tonight's dinner and I used some Mojito Lime Marinade for cooking tomorrow or later in the week.

Zest a lemon right into a zip close bag (I like to fold the top of the bag down and place it inside a bowl for a bit of stability).  Then add some freshly cracked pepper.  My pepper grinder is broken so I used my spice grinder for this process.

I used about a tablespoon of peppercorns, but you can adjust it to your preference.

I added about half of the ground pepper to the bag, then poured in some extra virgin olive oil.  Then set it aside and got to work on marinade number 2.

For the Mojito Lime marinade, I put about 2 tablespoons of the Mojito Lime seasoning mix into the self-sealing plastic bag and added about 2 tablespoons of evoo.  Again, I set this aside and went to work on prepping the chicken.  I took these four lovely boneless, skinless chicken breasts...

..and cut 2 of them into cubes...

...and the other two into tender-sized strips.

The cubes are for the orzo salad, so they went into the bag with the lemon-pepper mixture.  Then I sealed the bag, letting all of the air out, and squished it all around...

...until it was fully coated and looked like this:

The tenders went into the bag with the Mojito Lime mixture...

...and I repeated the whole process.

Then both bags went into the fridge.

A note about using citrus, you may have noticed I didn't add the juice of the lemon to the marinade...yet.  That's because you don't want the acid in the citrus to cook your protein so citrus should only be added shortly before cooking - no longer than 15-20 minutes for chicken in fairly thick pieces, less for stir fry strips and much less for shrimp or seafood of any kind.  In this case, the juice is going into the dressing for the orzo salad, which is really a marinade too, so I'll just pour some of the dressing in with the chicken a bit before cooking to be certain it gets maximum infusion from the lemon.  

Speaking of the dressing, here's how to make it:

Juice one lemon into a bowl or mason jar (I love using mason jars for this whole process)...

You'll be using equal parts lemon juice and equal parts evoo.  So here's the lemon juice...  

...and now I've added the extra virgin olive oil...

Now add some salt & pepper to taste - this will really depend on how much dressing/marinade you mix up but I used about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and a healthy pinch of salt.

Place the lid on the jar and shake it up!

Voila!  Dressing/Marinade - however you want to use it, it's ready to go.  And the best part?  It doesn't even need to be refrigerated!  Really, the acid in the lemon juice acts as a preservative and the olive oil won't spoil (at least not for a very, very long time, if ever), so you can leave it out on the counter, if you like.  If you do choose to refrigerate it, keep in mind that the olive oil will solidify, so you'll need to either set it out at room temperature for about 30 minutes prior to use or nuke it for about 15 seconds.

Ok, so there you have it, two quick and easy marinades that a fresh and full of summer flavor to use in your recipes this summer.  I promise to post the Chicken Orzo Salad in the near future as well as some other recipes using these marinades so you can get your summer on!

Lemon Pepper Marinade

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lemon

1 TBLS ground pepper

1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or equal quantity to lemon juice)

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl or mason jar.  Whisk or shake to mix until emulsified.  For chicken, steak or pork, marinade for about 20 minutes prior to cooking or omit lemon juice and marinade up to 24 hours, adding lemon juice 20 minutes prior to cooking.  This marinade is an excellent salad dressing too - our favorite for Orzo Salad with Chicken or Shrimp, Greek Salad and Antipasto Salad.

Mojito Lime Marinade

2 TBLS Mojito Lime Seasoning Mix

2 - 3 TBLS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Place all ingredients in a self-sealing bag or bowl, add chicken, steak or pork, toss to coat and allow to marinade a minimum of 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.  If using for shellfish add fresh citrus juice of your choice and marinade just 5-10 minutes.  For larger cuts of fish, add fresh citrus juice and marinade for 15-20 minutes.  Cook as desired.

  

Fish Tacos - Perfect Summer Fare!

I picked up some lovely, fresh cod at the grocery store the other day and decided we'd have fish tacos.  The kids aren't big on fish though and since they headed to Grandma's house for a visit yesterday, I decided to fix the fish tacos last night. 

I really like dill, cumin, coriander and fresh lime juice on white fish so that's what I used last night, plus salt & pepper and a bit of olive oil.  I prepped the fish, then baked it in the oven - no breading, no frying.  I baked it at 375 degrees (f) for about 15-20 minutes.  It came out moist and delicious! 

For toppings, I'm not big on the traditional cabbage, so I just shredded up some romaine lettuce instead. I also cut up some fresh zucchini into matchstick-sized pieces and cut a lime into wedges and made some fresh tartar sauce. 

Tartar Sauce:
1/4 c light sour cream or greek yogurt
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 - 1 lime
1 tbls capers, chopped
1 tbls. dill (fresh is best, if you can get it)
1/2 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. cumin
salt & pepper to taste

Stir it all together and Chill while the fish is baking.

I found some lovely corn tortillas at the store that were really soft & "hand-made style" - they were a bit thicker and a lot moister than the usual corn tortillas - and healthier too.  The zucchini added a nice crunch and their mild flavor allowed the fish to remain the star. We also had a lovely spinach salad with honey-mustard dressing to balance out the meal.  My husband enjoyed this delicious, light and healthy meal so much, he had a 2nd helping!

Mushroom & Goat Cheese Pizzetta

I was fortunate enough, recently, to receive some wonderful wild mushrooms from a friend who gathers them and then cans her harvest.  I have to admit, I've been hoarding them.  They are an extra-special treat and I knew right away I wanted to use them for a really special pizza or pizzetta.  Our Godson recently arrived to spend the summer with us, so a couple nights after he arrived, when the weather was beautiful, we BBQ'd some steaks and I decided to grill some pizzetta to go along with it!  To cut corners, I picked up some "pocketless" pita.  Then I warmed some olive oil in a small saucepan and dropped in several cloves of coarsley chopped garlic as well as some fresh rosemary & thyme.  I let them all steep together, then brushed a couple rounds of the pita with it, being sure to include the herbs and garlic.  I topped them with some sliced red bell pepper (I would have preferred roasted, but the fresh worked out fine), 1 can of the wild mushrooms, drained and some goat cheese.  We threw them on the grill - a bit to the side where the heat wasn't as hot.  We covered them with the lid to a sturdy pot to trap in the heat & melt the cheese.  They came out utterly delicious! 

Ciao!

Spinach Salad w/Honey-Mustard Dressing

So the kids are off to Grandma's for a couple of days and it's just Steven & I.  The weather has been fairly warm, if overcast, and on night's like this we just want to kick back after work and enjoy each other's company over a simple dinner.  Steven's not one to say much about what I cook, he likes my cooking and enjoys everything I fix so I know something is especially good when he says "This salad is really good!", which he did so here's what I did:

Maple Glazed Pecans
Spread 2 cups of pecan halves in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Place in cold oven & set oven to 350 degrees.  Toast them until the insides start to turn golden brown - about 10-15 minutes. Set aside.  In a medium mixing bowl, measure out 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 c. brown sugar.  Mix well.  Set aside.  Cover a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper - and set this aside too.  Put 1 tbls. butter, 2 tbls. water and 4 tbls. maple syrup in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the pecans and stir to coat, continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated - about 3-5 minutes.    Pour nuts into bowl with salt/sugar mixture and toss until coated.  Spread onto paper covered baking sheet to cool.

Honey-Mustard Dressing
In a small bowl mix together 2 tbls. grainy, dijon mustard, 2 tbls. honey & enough white wine vinegar to make a smooth sauce.  Stream in Extra Virgin Olive Oil until all are well-blended.  Grate in 1 small clove of garlic.  Add salt & pepper to taste. 

Spinach Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing and Maple Glazed Pecans
baby spinach leaves
cucumber, cut in half and sliced (seed it if the seeds are too large)
scallions, chopped (whites and greens)
Honey-Mustard Dressing
Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (or any blue cheese you prefer)
Maple Glazed Pecans

Put the spinach greens in a bowl, add cucumber & scallions.  Dress with Honey-Mustard Dressing, to taste, and toss.  Top with Blue Cheese and Maple Glazed Pecans - delicious!

You can store the left over pecans in an airtight container - freeze them if you won't use them within a week or two.  The dressing made enough for a couple large salads or several 2 person salads, store any extra in the refrigerator.

I hope you like it!