Jerk Chicken with Pineapple Salsa and Family

I've been looking forward to tonight all week. Anthony & Mandy came over for dinner and brought Nathan and Kaleb with them! Adam and I decided to make one of our favorite dishes for the occasion - Jerk Chicken! with Pineapple Salsa over rice.

We marinated the chicken for a couple of hours, and made the salsa a few hours ahead of time so the flavors had time to hang out together. The salsa is based off of a mango papaya salsa found here here - we use all pineapple instead of mango or papaya and leave out the avocado, but the rest is pretty much the same...though we just eyeball the amounts.

Adam grilled the chicken to perfection. It was so juicy and had great flavor. And the salsa - it's just amazing in this dish. To round out the meal, I made some rice with some fresh cilantro, a little butter, salt, and pepper.

I'm so glad that he only used half the marinade and froze the other half. I really love this marinade with tilapia, too! We've been trying to freeze more so we have less work later on. The freezer can be so great when you don't have a lot of time, or you just want to be lazy. It really came in handy when Lucy was born - in the weeks leading up to her birth, I made twice the amount of whatever we were having for dinner and froze half. We really appreciated that once she was here.

We really had a blast tonight - Anthony & Mandy will be in their new house soon, so they'll be cooking for us in no time. Yippee!

Jerk Chicken!
- 6 green onions, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Pineapple Salsa
- 3/4 Fresh Pineapple, chopped
- 1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1/2 sweet onion, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste

Happy Fish Friday

If you ask Adam what his favorite type of food is, he will say "seafood." I will quickly correct him and say that it's actually shellfish, since he doesn't like most food that actually comes from water...for example: fish. When he put salmon on our menu this week, I got super excited. I love salmon. He does not have such a love.

Tonight we made Honey Soy Salmon. I love Asian flavors with salmon. It really tones down the fishy flavor, which Adam appreciates; I just think it's yummy. Topped with sesame seeds, this recipe really had good flavor. For Adam to say that we'll make it again means something.

We also made some roasted red potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, and rosemary. I could have used more rosemary, but they were pretty good anyway. Stay tuned this weekend - Anthony & Mandy are coming for dinner Saturday, and at some point, we need to make Lucy some more food to freeze.

Honey Soy Salmon
- 1 scallion, minced
- 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 pound center-cut salmon fillet, skinned (see Tip) and cut into 4 portions
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Broccoli Twice in 1 week?!

So today I took Lucy to the doctor. It's pink eye. Conjunctivitis. YUCK! Luckily, we've been treating her with antibiotic ointment since Saturday, so she hasn't been contagious for the other kids at the sitter this week. We got some drops, and they seem much easier to give her than the ointment. Now...onto dinner!

I love broccoli. So much. I have since I was a little kid. Adam doesn't have such a love for broccoli, so imagine my surprise when tonight, he said "we can do broccoli instead of mashed potatoes." You don't have to tell me twice! I don't think it gets much better than broccoli steamed for about a minute and a half and then seasoned with salt and pepper. YUM.

Tonight we made Cuban Flank Steak . Adam grilled the flank steak over open coals for about seven minutes per side, after it was marinated for around four hours. We used Nelly and Joe's Key Lime Juice instead of fresh lime, because it's what we had on hand. Plus, it's the closest we've found to natural lime flavor - we almost always have this in the fridge.

It had a nice lime flavor, but not overwhelming. Delicious. I think this would be amazing in fajitas, though it's also great on its own, too.

We also made some green beans to go with the flank steak and broccoli. And by we, I mean I...and they were very over-salted. Adam ate them with a smile like the great husband that he is.

Marinade Ingredients:
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp. ground chipotle chile powder

Mmmm Paninis

Lucy's eye looks better tonight, but I'm going to take her to the doctor tomorrow just to be sure it's nothing serious.  Adam had a rough day at work, so we were excited to have something quick & simple on our menu tonight.

We made chicken paninis based off of a recipe found here.  Sliced turkey didn't sound so appealing to our taste buds, so we switched it out for boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper.  We also used Italian bread instead of rolls.  Other than that, we followed the recipe exactly.

It was delicious!  The mayo with basil and garlic was like a mayo-pesto...creamy goodness.  The onions cooked low & slow in butter brought out the sweetness that paired well with the spiciness of the garlic in the mayo.

Adam boiled some baby carrots with some salt and pepper added at the end...but I ate my carrots raw with a tiny bit of ranch. Carrots are the only veggie I like raw - I love the crunch!  We completed our plate with some applesauce and called it a meal. This will be a nice go-to when we're short on time and/or patience.

Chicken, Onion, and Garlic Panini
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 large sweet onion, sliced
-  4-6 garlic cloves, finely minced
-  1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves, thin sliced or minced
-  2/3 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
-  8 slices Italian bread
-  8 slices provolone cheese 
-  2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Chicken Breasts with Gorgonzola-Tomato Salsa

It's been a long week, and it's only Tuesday.  Lucy has some crazy eye gunk going on, and we've been stressing over it like the new-ish parents that we are.

We're always looking for easy meals, and lately we've been wanting more easy HEALTHY meals - this one caught our eye.  After Lucy went to bed, we got to cookin'.

This recipe is a keeper.  Adam made the salsa before she went to bed so the flavors had time to marry. And marry they did.  It's light, yet satisfying and delicious.  The cheese was a nice guilty pleasure in between the bites of tomato and onion. Like the charm in Lucky Charms.  The basil made for the perfect flavor combination, and was a nice substitute for cilantro.  The chicken only called for salt & pepper, though we did add garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika in addition.  It was just enough with the side of steam broccoli - and we will make it again for sure. 

Chicken Breasts with Gorgonzola-Tomato Salsa
- 2 cups chopped tomato
- 1/3 cup minced red onion
- 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
- 2 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cooking spray
- 3 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola cheese