Recipe of the Week - Biohazard Chicken

I came across this recipe in another blog, Bean's Bistro. She calls it Biohazard Chicken because when it's marinading in the plastic bag, it kinda looks like a biohazard. I have to say I agree.

It's a quick and easy marinade, though and it sure made tasty chicken! I had it in the marinade for about 3 hours, and cooked it on our indoor grill. I really want to try it again when DH feels like grilling outside. I halved the recipe and only marinated 2 chicken breasts. I served it with white rice. We were supposed to have, peas, too. But, I put them in the pot and then turned on the wrong burner and didn't realize it until the chicken was ready. At that point, we didn't feel like waiting for the peas to cook!

Biohazard Chicken
From Bean's Bistro by Erika

Ingredients
1 c. ketchup
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. honey
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed & chopped (I just put mine through the garlic press)
2-12 boneless chicken breasts

Directions
Combine all ingredients except chicken in a large plastic Ziploc bag. Close bag tightly. Mush everything together until well mixed.

Add chicken into bag and reseal. (I pierced the chicken w/ a fork on both sides first.) Massage marinade into meat.

Chill chicken until it is ready to be grilled. Chicken will keep at least 24 hours, though it will still be yummy after only 15 minutes.

Cook chicken over medium grill heat until cooked through, but still moist.

Recipe(s) of the Week: Salmon Burgers with Apple Craisin Salad

Yes, it's true, this week we have not one, but two, recipes of the week. I can't actually take credit for making both of them, though, because my DH actually made the salad. But, it was still a new recipe and the two were so perfect together I had to post them both.

I got Rachael Ray's cookbook Express Lane Meals a while back, but I hadn't made anything from it, so last weekend I went through and marked a bunch of the recipes I thought sounded good. One of them was this week's first new recipe - the Salmon Burgers. (Full disclosure is important here - I don't want to end up like Cindy McCain and get berated in the press for copying recipes from Food Network chefs! Then again, my husband isn't running for president, so the press isn't really out to find stuff to berate me for. But, I digress.)

The second recipe, Apple Crasin Salad, comes from Sam's Club. We love to go to Sam's on Saturdays when the "sample ladies" are there. At our location, not only do they have just straight up samples of prepared items, but they also usually have station with recipes. The funny thing about this one is when we asked where the Crasins were, they said they were out and they'd had to run across the parking lot to Wal-Mart to get them for the demo! We found that quite funny. Someone didn't plan too well. Oops, I'm digressing again.

Anyway, here are the recipes:

Salmon Burgers
from Express Lane Meals by Rachael Ray

Ingredients
1 14 oz. can Alaskan Salmon, drained & flaked
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 c. Italian bread crumbs
Black Pepper
Salt
2 T. extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a bowl. Form 4 large patties or 8 small patties Preheat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Cook the salmon patties for 2-3 minutes on each side for mini patties, 4 minutes on each side for large patties.

I didn't use the parsley and I substituted a couple squirts of lemon juice for the lemon zest.

The recipe calls for them to be served on a bed of slaw, but we wanted to do a more traditional burger treatment, so we bought some yummy multi-grain rolls from our awesome grocery store bakery. I mixed some mayonnaise and Dijon mustard to make a spread for the bread.


Apple Craisin Salad w/ Apple Vinaigrette Dressing
recipe from Sam's Club

Ingredients
For Salad:
1 pkg. spring mix
1 c. Ocean Spray Craisins
2 c. Red Delicious apples, chopped

For Apple Vinaigrette:
1/2 c. apple juice
2 T honey
2 T lemon juice
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 t. salt
2 T white vinegar

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the spring mix, chopped apples and Craisins.

In a small bowl, combine the apple juice, honey, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & vinegar. Mix well with a whisk.

Pour vinaigrette over salad and toss.

Recipe of the Week - Grilled Raspberry Chicken

This week's recipe of the week comes from the Food Network. I usually have the TV on in my office while I'm working. Otherwise, the silence drives me crazy. It's one of the drawbacks of working from home.

Anyway, in the afternoons, I usually turn to Food Network. Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee is one of the shows I usually catch. Now, I honestly think Sandra Lee is kind of annoying. I also think it's silly how "themey" her show is - if you've never seen it, there's a different theme every episode, and her kitchen is decorated around the theme. All her appliances and accessories are changed to match the theme. I swear, the woman has a Kitchen Aid mixer in every color there is.

At the end of the episode, she shows a "tablescape" - again, it matches the theme - with appropriate dishes, linens, place cards, etc. I'd love to know what the show's budget is, because I've never seen the same dish twice. If only I had that kind of money to spend on entertaining - not to mention the storage space.

I find it ironic, because her whole deal is making inexpensive dishes with a mix of fresh and store-bought ingredients. I guess she spends the money she saves on decor! Oh, and there's a cocktail in every episode. Can we say lush? But, I gotta be honest - sometimes her recipes sound good. And this is one that caught my ear, so I tried it this week.



Grilled Raspberry Chicken
from Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee

Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. frozen raspberries, thawed (recommended: Dole)
1 c. raspberry vinaigrette (recommended: Annie's)
1/4 c. raspberry vodka, optional
1/4 c. finely chopped fresh mint leaves
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
Fresh raspberries, for garnish

Directions
Rinse and pat dry chicken breasts with paper towels. Place in large zip-top bag. Add raspberries, vinaigrette, vodka, if using and chopped mint. Squeeze air out and seal bag. Gently massage the bag to mash raspberries.

Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 4 hours.

Preheat grill to medium-high and oil the grates. Place the chicken breasts on the grill and cook for 4 to 6 minutes per side. Remove from grill and place on serving platter. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and fresh raspberries.




As you can see, I did not garnish with fresh mint and raspberries. Maybe if we were doing it for company, I would, but for just DH and me, it seemed like a waste. Plus, fresh raspberries aren't in season, so they were expensive!

I also did not use the raspberry vodka. We did so many errands last week and I just didn't feel like adding the liquor store to the list. Maybe next time. I didn't use Dole fruit (our store only had store brand frozen raspberries), but I did use the Annie's dressing. I love that brand!

The other change I will make is to pierce the chicken before I put it in the marinade. The marinade just didn't penetrate enough.

Oh, that side dish is mashed red potatoes (with skin) made with milk, and sour cream. Yum!