Made More Pioneer Woman...

I love easy grilled chicken recipes and the way your fingers smell after pulling cilantro leaves off their stem.  Yum!  Next time I am cooking and shooting my dishes, I will take a shot of my window ledge.  Most days you can find glass containers filled with basil and cilantro, sitting next too ripening, red tomatoes.  So I love pulling from what I have to make a great, easy meal.  With the help of my man the grill master, we put on a great meal for each other!

Garlic-Lime Grilled Chicken Breasts with Cilantro-Corn Relish
For the Marinade:
6 whole, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 whole lim, juiced
4 whole garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

For the relish:
1 c. corn kernels
1 whole, fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 c. diced, red bell pepper
1/2 c. cilantro
1 whole lime, juiced
1/2 tsp. salt

Place chicken in large plastic, storage bag.  Combine marinate ingredients and pour over chicken.  Seal bag and marinate in refrigerator for several hours to overnight.
Before grilling, combine all corn relish ingredients in a medium bowl.  (You are going to want to taste test b/c it will be so good!!)
Set grill to medium heat and cook chicken breasts about 4-6 minutes per side or until internal temp reaches 170 degrees.  Remove from grill and serve.
For serving, spoon corn relish over each piece of chicken and serve with your favorite side dish.  B loves mashed potatoes so chicken and taters it was!!

Made Pioneer Woman Tuna Melts

Yes, you heard me right...tuna melts.   I have mentioned this dish to several friends and received curled lips but when they get a taste the lips start smacking!  This is not your typical tuna salad on cold, triangle shaped bread at a baby shower.  It is Pioneer Woman and amazing!

5 oz. canned tuna
1/4 cups finely chopped red onion
1/4 cups  finely chopped red bell pepper
1 whole, fresh jalapeno, finely chopped
2 whole hard boiled eggs, chopped
6 whole sweet gerkins, sliced
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. dijon mustard
Splash of pickle juice
Salt & pepper to taste
6 whole english muffins, split into halves
12 slices cheese, Provolone was tasty!

Combine tune with onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, eggs, and gerkins.

Stir in mayo, dijon and pickle juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place english muffin halves on a large cookie sheet.  Spoon tuna salad on each of the twelve english muffin halves.  I ended up only making 10 as I was generous with the tuna on each half.  Use the spoon to flatten the spread.  Put pan into the oven for 5 minutes, then briefly remove and lay a slice of cheese on each muffin.  Return to oven and turn on broiler.  Watch carefully to avoid burning the yummy cheese; bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Remove from oven and serve.

Made Chicken-and-Tortellini Salad w/ Tomatoes Caprese

Another great southern, summer dinner from Southern Living!  I really enjoy flipping through magazines and on a whim choosing a meal for the upcoming week.  This was perfect for enjoying more parsley and basil from our garden.  The salad recipe made enough for an army so we enjoyed this meal with friends from our Foundation Group.  It was a sweet time, sharing a meal with long-time friends!

Chicken-and-Tortellini Salad
2 (9oz.) packages refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup frozen sweet peas, thawed
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt & pepper to taste

Prepare tortellini according to package directions.
Process olive oil and next 4 ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Toss olive oil mixture with tortellini, chicken, and next 3 ingredients.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tomatoes Caprese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (I did not have white...)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
4 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (could not find green so used red)
1 (16oz.) package fresh mozzarella cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large ziplock freezer bag; add tomatoes, seal and shake gently to coat.  Chill 1 hour.
Preheat grill to medium-heat.  Remove tomatoes from marinade, reserving marinade.  Grill tomatoes, covered with grill lid, 3 to-4 minutes on each side until tender and grill marks appear.

I used a grilling tray to alleviate the tomatoes slipping through the slats.  Once the tomatoes are cooked on each side, I placed them directly on the grill until grill marks appeared.
Arrange alternating slices of warm grilled tomatoes and mozzarella cheese on a large, shallow platter.  Drizzle with reserved marinade; season with salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with basil.
  
I hope you enjoy this great, healthy meal with friends you love!  

Made Couscous Shrimp Salad

Couscous is by no means a staple in the Madeley household, in fact I kept singing the praises of this recipe hoping to convince B he would love this dish.  And he did!! Three special friends joined us for dinner and we had a great evening cheering on Scotty and Lauren in the American Idol finale show.  This would be perfect for a ladies luncheon, Keno party (hint, hint to my mother-in-law), wedding or baby shower.

Shrimp Couscous Salad 

2 c. boiling water 

2 c. couscous

2 tsp. butter

1 1/2 tsp. granulated chicken bouillon

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 lb. green beans, cut into 1/4 inch chunks, blanched and set aside

12 oz. bag frozen white corn, thawed

2 lbs. cooked shrimp, rinsed and set aside

Cut all vegetables and set aside until you combine the shrimp..

Follow the cooking instructions on the package of the frozen shrimp.  I bought frozen, uncooked to save a few bucks and boil shrimp for the first time.  : )

While shrimp is coming to a boil, in a separate sauce pan, stir couscous into boiling water.  Blend in butter and bouillon, cover and set aside.  It was a labor of love to peel two pounds of shrimp but worth it as I enjoyed a few tastings during the process.  

In a large bowl, combine vegetables, cooked shrimp & couscous.  I ended up using half of the mixing bowls in my kitchen trying to figure out how all of this would fit in one dish.  This salad makes enough for an army.  

Spicy Ranch Dressing

1 Ranch dressing packet

1 c. milk

1 c. mayonnaise

2 fresh jalapenos, minced

1 tbsp. ketchup

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. pepper

Whisk together milk, mayo and dressing packet.  Fold in remaining ingredients and chill.  Next time I might double the recipe as the dressing did not last long through two helpings per person. 

Serve Couscous Shrimp Salad over bed of greens and top with cilantro & Spicy Ranch Dressing.

This recipe came from a beautiful cookbook from Aunt Chee Chee - check out the cookbooks at http://thegatheringoffriends.com/.

Made a Madeley Arnold Palmer

Last summer we discovered Old Savannah Sweet Tea wine at Market Street.  Before I get to the MAP (Madeley Arnold Palmer), I must encourage you to find a Market Street in your area and visit immediately.  It is a lovely mix of Central Market and your neighborhood Tom Thumb.  I love both and so together it makes for a great grocery store.  Anyway...they frequently have tastings on the weekends so while picking up a few things, we had a taste of the feature wine and were hooked!  What goes better with sweet tea than lemonade?!  It just makes sense - try it out with your favorite lemonade, ours is Simply Lemonade.

Happy Summer!!

Made Pasta with Pesto, Salmon & Sweet 100s

After a long Memorial Day weekend I am finally getting in front of my computer, for part 2 of "Made Pesto".  I had so many great pictures of this meal, more beauty shots than process but it was a pretty simple process after you whip up the pesto.  Both recipes came out of a cookbook we received as a wedding gift.  The inside note is a prayer, "May your lives be filled with the riches of God and may your home be a haven for family and friends!"  I love seeing this prayer fulfilled as we gather around the table.  

The below recipe was altered just a bit as I was planning on having shrimp the next night so I substituted salmon, broiled in the oven. 

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

8 ounces angel hair pasta

1 tbsp. olive oil

8 ounces large shrimp, peeled & deveined (substituted salmon for 2)

2 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 c. pesto

1 c. halved sweet 100s or other cherry tomatoes

Grated Parmesan

Fill a large saucepan three fourths full of water.  Bring to a boil, add kosher salt, add pasta and cook until tender - about 4 minutes.  Drain pasta and set aside.

Line a cooking sheet with foil, for easy cleanup.  Salt & pepper salmon fillets and broil on high heat for about 12-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside.  

Combine cooked pasta, pesto sauce and halved sweet 100s.  Salt & pepper to taste.  Top with salmon fillets and serve immediately.  

Note: if using shrimp, see below cooking instructions.

Heat olive oil in sauce pan over medium heat.  Add shrimp and cook for about 1 minutes.  Turn the shrimp over and add the garlic.  Continue cooking until the shrimp is opaque in the center, about 1 minute more.  Add the reserved cooking water (from pasta) and the pesto and stir until incorporated.  Add the pasta and tomatoes and toss to combine.