Grilled Fish in Tinfoil

Grilled Fish in Tinfoil
1 piece of halibut (or fish of your choice)
Italian dressing
Lemon Wedge
Salt
Pepper

Direction:  Salt and pepper the fish.  Place the fish in the center of tinfoil.  Drizzle with Italian dressing and squeeze a lemon wedge on top.  Close the tinfoil up and make a tent out of it.  Throw on the grill for 8-10 minutes.

Here's what you'll need:

 

Salt and pepper the fish.  Drizzle with Italian dressing.  Squeeze a lemon wedge over the fish.  Throw on the grill until the inside temp reaches 145 degrees or until it flakes off.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
Protein in our house is always an issue.  I don't eat pork and Scott doesn't really like fish or seafood; thus, we are stuck with poultry or beef.  Last week while doing my shopping, I decided to go ahead and get myself a piece of fish and Scott a couple of pork brats and we were both happy.

This is the first time that I have ever cooked fresh fish and it turned out great.  I found this "recipe" online and decided to give it a try.  To be honest, I don't think the Italian dressing added a whole lot to the taste.  I think it would have been better if I would have just added some olive oil, fresh herbs and a lemon but it was still really good.

As a bonus, I gave a taste to both Kanin and Gracie and they loved it so I will definitely be cooking fresh fish again in the future.  Scott even took a bite and said it "wasn't bad". 

Do you have any good fresh fish recipes?  If so, I'd love to try them out.  You can email me at awesty2 at yahoo(dot) com.

Hope you enjoy!
April

Grilled Pizzas

While I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight, the thought of grilled pizza came to mind.  I knew right away that just one pizza would not feed all of us nor would it satisfy what we all like on our pizzas so I decided to make 3:

Grilled Veggie Pizza (for me)

Pepperoni Pizza (for Scott)

Three-Cheese Pizza (for the kids)

Even though these are pictures of my particular pizzas, you could switch them up and make every type of pizza in the world. 

By the way, a huge thanks to Meg for introducing me to these easy little pizza dough kits!!

Grilled Pizzas

Pizza dough kit

1/2 cup hot water

Toppings of your choice

Directions:  Preheat to low and CLEAN grill.  Mix pizza dough according to the directions.  Roll out or shape into a good-sized pizza.  Put dough on grill for 6-8 minutes or until you get good grill marks.  Turn pizza over, add toppings, and grill for another 6-8 minutes.  Cut and serve.

Here's what you'll need for Grilled Veggie Pizza (or other veggies)

Pepperoni Pizza

Three-Cheese Pizza

For the Veggie Pizza I did not use any pizza/marinara sauce but brushed olive oil and garlic on the dough.

Use a garlic press to press out 2 garlic cloves into some olive oil.  If you do not have a garlic press, chop up the cloves and then smash them up a bit.

Make the dough according to the package directions.  This particular brand just called for 1/2 cup of hot water.

Cover with a lid for a couple of minutes to let it rise a bit.

Roll out and shape.

You can do this for all of the pizzas.  Brush on the olive oil and garlic.

Put your chosen veggies on the grill.

Put the pizzas on the grill.  If you are using olive oil/garlic, put the side you just brushed faced-down.

When they have cooked for 6-8 minutes, turn them over and put your toppings on while the bottom side is grilling.  (Also, brush on the other side with olive oil/garlic.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Grilled Veggie Pizza

Three-Cheese Pizza

Pepperoni Pizza

Here is a closer look of the pizza crust that I used.  There are others available (even a gluten-free one).

Our Thoughts:

Bottom line . . . these were FANTASTIC!  The crust was warm and crunchy.  The smoke from the grill seeped into the cheese, pepperoni and vegetables and really added to the flavor.

I did have a couple of issues that kind of stressed me out a bit.

  1. It was a little difficult preparing the 3 different types of pizzas and have them all get finished at the same time so that we could sit down and eat together.  This really came into effect after the first side of the pizzas had cooked and I flipped them.  I then had to pull the grilled veggies off quickly (they were HOT), cut them up and put them on that pizza.  Then, add pizza sauce and cheese to both pizzas and top the third with the pepperoni.  A couple of the edges got darker than what I would have liked (and I made a huge mess both inside/outside) but it was worth it.

  2. I should have put the feta cheese down before I put the grilled veggies on so that it would act kind of like a glue holding the veggies to the crust.  Instead I did the veggies then cheese so when I picked it up to eat, all of the veggies fell off.  It didn't matter, though, I just picked up a fork and ate it anyway!

  The kids absolutely loved this which is always a plus.  Gracie at 3 pieces!!!  I will definitely make this over and over again.  Scott already told me he wants Canadian Bacon and grilled pineapple next.

Hope you enjoy!

April

Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Sandwiches

Last week I got a Tweet from Dave Zinczenko of Eat This, Not That! and one of the recipes were these Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Sandwiches.  Our neighbor made these for us last summer and Scott loved them so I had to try them.

Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Sandwiches from Women's Day online
4 bonesless skinless chicken breasts
Teriyaki sauce
4 slices of Swiss cheese
4 pineapple slices (1/2" thick)
4 whole-wheat buns
1 red onion, thinly sliced
Pickled jalapenos (optional)

Directions:  Combine the chicken and enough teriyaki sauce to cover in a resealable plastic bag and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours.

Heat a grill until hot (you shouldn't be able to hold your hand above the grates for more than 5 seconds). Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on the grill; discard any remaining marinade. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on the first side; flip and immediately add the cheese to each breast. Continue cooking until the cheese is melted and the chicken is lightly charred and firm to the touch. Remove and set aside.

  While the chicken rests, add the pineapple and the buns to the grill. Cook the buns until they're lightly toasted and the pineapple until it's soft and caramelized, about 2 minutes per side. Top each bun with chicken, red onion, jalapeno slices, and pineapple. If you like, drizzle the chicken with a bit more teriyaki sauce.

Here's what you'll need:

Put the chicken breasts in a Ziploc bag along with some teriyaki sauce.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat your grill or griddle until hot and then throw the chicken breasts on.  Cook for 4-5 minutes on one side, flip and add the cheese.  Cook for another 2-3 minutes (or until done).

Once the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted, pull the chicken off and rest.  Next, put the pineapple rings on along with the buns.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

I knew that Scott and I would love these sandwiches just based on having them this past summer but I was happily surprised when Kanin loved them, too.  He even asked me if he could take one to school sometime.  That is quite the accomplishment!

We didn't add the jalapenos but I really don't think we were missing anything.  The crunchiness of the raw onion was a great touch.  I'm usually not a teriyaki fan but I like these.  The grilled pineapple has the carmelization of the juice but still maintains that sweetness.  I actually can understand why you would put jalapenos on it because of the contrast with the sweet pineapple.

We loved this dish!  I served them with Roasted Garlic Sweet Potatoes.

Hope you enjoy!
April

With the bun, these sandwiches were 9 points on the Weight Watchers Points Plus program; 7 points without the bun

Chicken and Vegetables in Foil

This recipe was adapted from Mennonite Girls Can Cook

1 skinless, boneless chicken breast per packet
Any vegetables that you have on hand (preferably fresh but canned will work)
Seasoning

Directions:  Use two sheets of tin foil per packet.  Spray the tin foil and place the chicken breast on of the sheets, add any vegetables.  Wrap each packet tightly.  Grill for 30-40 minutes turning frequently.

I didn't take pictures of what I started with because I was just going through my refrigerator and pantry looking for things that I thought would taste good.

The Finished Product:

Review:

This dish was so good and so simple.  I didn't have to the grocery store and buy a thing.  I had the chicken breasts and then I just looked in my pantry and refrigerator and added what I had.  I wish I would have had broccolli or green beans, snap peas or something grean. 

I seasoned the chicken with just some poultry seasoning and put everything in the foil with some olive oil and salt and pepper.  It tasted almost like a chicken roast and the chicken was really moist.

After making it once, I keep thinking of other ways to make this kind of dish:  hamburger patties with mushrooms and onions, chicken with onions, mushrooms and some spaghetti sauce, steaks with mushrooms, onions, green peppers, etc., etc., etc.

Hope you enjoy!

April

Outdoor Burger

Outdoor Burger from Recipe.com
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped green sweet pepper
1/4 cup catsup
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
8 slices smoked or regular mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves, sliced
8 3/4-inch-thick slices Italian bread, toasted, or whole wheat hamburger buns, split and toasted

Directions: Combine onion, bread crumbs, sweet pepper, catsup, horseradish, mustard, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add ground beef; mix well. Shape meat mixture into eight 3/4-inch-thick patties. Grill patties on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 14 to 18 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in side of patty registers 160 degrees F., turning once halfway through cooking. Top each burger with a slice of mozzarella during last 2 minutes of grilling. Remove from grill, sprinkle with basil. Serve on toasted Italian bread slices or whole wheat buns. Makes 8 servings.

Here's what I started with:

Here's how I did it:

#1 I chopped up the green pepper and onion.  I put them in a bowl with the bread crumbs, ketchup, horseradish and mustard.  I added the ground beef and mixed it altogether.

#2 I shaped it into a a ball and then scored it into 4 burgers.

#3 On the grill they went.

The Finished Product:

Review:

I was so frustrated with these burgers.  They were so moist and wet that they fell apart on the grill.  This is the only burger that I was able to take a finished picture of.

As far as taste, this burger reminded me of meatloaf with the breadcrumbs, ground beef, onions, peppers and ketchup.  It had a nice "homey" taste to it; however, as wet as it was when it was cooking, it was almost too dry when it came off.  For some reason, I kept thinking that it would taste good with pasta sauce on it-maybe it was the mozzarella cheese.

While the burger tasted good, the hassle of it falling apart would deter me from making it again unless I could figure out how to make it stay together, pehaps more bread crumbs.

Hope you enjoy!

April

**(2 Stars)--This dish wasn't very good . I don't know if we would be willing to try it again or not.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Grilled Sweet Potatoes from Food Network Magazine
Recipe by Bobby Flay
3 sweet potatoes, unpeeled
Kosher salt
2 tsps finely grated lime zest
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions: Parcook the potatoes. Place in a pot of water and boil until fork-tender; let cool. Slice each potato lengthwise into eighths.

Preheat a grill to medium or place a cast-iron grill pan over medium heat. Mix 1 Tbsp salt, the lime zest and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.

Brush the potato wedges with the oil and season wtih salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on all sides (including the skin) and just cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter; immediately season with the salt mixture and sprinkle with cilantro.

Here's what I started with:

Here's how I did it:

#1 I rinsed off 3 big sweet potatoes.

#2 I put them in a pan to boil until they were fork-tender, about 30 minutes.

#3 While the potatoes were boiling, I measured out the salt, lime zest and cayenne pepper and mixed them up.  Then, set it aside.

#4 I chopped and minced about 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro and set it aside.

#5 I poured some canola oil in a pan.

#6 The sweet potatoes were pulled and laid on the cutting board.  I waited for them to cool a bit and then I sliced them open and cut them into wedges.

#7 I tossed them in the canola oil and salt and peppered them.

#8 They then went on the grill, alongside some yummy sweet corn ears.  I turned them about every 2 minutes until all sides were grilled.

#9 Once finished, I pulled them from the grill and sprinkled the salt mixture over the top.  The last step was to then sprinkle them with the fresh cilantro.

The Finished Product:

Review:

OMG . . . they were fantastic.  I am not a huge sweet potato fan and in the recent months I have tried 3 or 4 recipes using them because I know that they are healthier than normal red or Idaho potatoes.  These potatoes were delicious.  They had the smokiness of the grill but the freshness of the cilantro.  These two added with that fantastic salt, lime zest and cayenne mixture made me want to eat the whole stinkin' platter myself.

I served these potatoes with grilled corn on the cob, a green salad and sirloins.  Thanks to Chris at Nibble Me This, the steaks were grilled to perfection.