Black Beans with Lime

I knew I wanted to serve black beans alongside our Tequila Citrus Chicken and Grilled Sweet Potato Salad. We had already enjoyed guacamole as our appetizer, and were sipping on margaritas. I thought black beans would be a healthy side addition to round out the meal. I didn’t want to just open up a can of beans and call it a day; but I also needed something that didn’t take much work. This recipe was simple, and delicious. I adapted it a little to suit my liking, and I’m sure I’ll make it again, and again.

Black Beans with Lime
adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 can (19 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add beans, chili powder, cumin, and 1/4 cup water. Cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in lime juice; season with salt and pepper.

Up next… some cookies to finish up the meal!
Part 1: Guacamole for Two
Part 2: Tequila Citrus Grilled Chicken
Part 3: Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

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Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

I’m so happy to finally share with you this Grilled Sweet Potato Salad recipe we ate alongside our Tequila Citrus Grilled Chicken. I’ve made it multiple times this summer. I first made it earlier in the season, when we got a HUGE sweet potato in our CSA box. That sweet potato was almost as big as a small cantaloupe! We had our friend and his two teenage kids over for a little cookout that day and I wanted to find a new way to serve the monstrous sweet potato. It was the day I made the broccoli slaw that I love so much. Because we were “entertaining” I didn’t want to look TOO much like a weirdo and take tons and tons of photos of the food, so I skipped the photo session, knowing for sure I’d be making the sweet potatos again.

This was such a refreshingly different take on sweet potatoes. There’s no reason to relegate sweet potatoes to an existence only covered and smothered in cinnamon and marshmallows. I’ve been enjoying sweet potato fries and chips for quite some time; tossed in oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, roasted, and served with ketchup. When I served this variation, everyone raved about the taste. Most everyone recognized familiar flavors, but couldn’t pinpoint what it was. When I revealed it was cumin and lime, they were like “Yeah…. This is good!”

This is a great dish to serve to company because it’s super simple to prepare, yet impressive in appearance and flavor. I know I sound like one big broken record, but I have such a weakness for brightly colored foods. When The Boy and I were shopping for ingredients for my Sweet Heat Chicken Chili, I ran across purple sweet potatoes and just couldn’t resist adding one to the cart for future use. I’m not a huge cilantro fan, although I can appreciate the aroma more than the taste. I went ahead and served the sweet potatoes with cilantro, because it just looked so pretty!

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

adapted from Gourmet, as seen on Serious Eats

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Lime wedges
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

In a large saucepan cover potatoes with salted cold water by 1 inch and simmer, covered, until a paring knife inserted into the potato comes out with some resistance, about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on size of potatoes.

Light 1 chimney full of charcoal. While the charcoal is lighting and potatoes are boiling, whisk together oil, salt, and cumin in a small bowl.

In a colander drain potatoes and rinse under cold water to cool. With a sharp knife peel potatoes and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Brush oil mixture onto both sides of potato slices, reserving remaining cumin oil.

Grill slices on an oiled grate directly over the hot coals until golden brown, about 1-3 minutes on each side, and transfer with tongs to a platter. (I chose to wrap mine in aluminum foil and place on the grill)

Whisk lime juice into remaining cumin oil with salt and pepper to taste and drizzle over potatoes. Serve potato salad with lime wedges and sprinkled with cilantro.

And next up? Black Beans with Lime

Part 1: Guacamole for Two
Part 2: Tequila Citrus Grilled Chicken

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Tequila Citrus Grilled Chicken

This is the second of five posts sharing with you a great summer meal The Boy & I recently cooked up. The whole menu for our fantastic meal, really centered around the main dish. The Boy mentioned that he wanted to grill, and therefore it was up to me to figure out what to cook and how to cook it. After browsing some of my favorite sources, I settled on a recipe for Tequila Orange Chicken from Cooking Light. The original recipe called for oranges & orange juice. I knew I wanted to use up a lot of the limes I had in the fridge by making margaritas but I would still have plenty of lime juice left. So, I replaced 1/4 cup of the orange juice with lime juice and also added 1/2 of a grapefruit in place of one of the oranges. Reflected in the recipe below is my variation, and you can refer to the Cooking Light link for a version with oranges & orange juice only.

I chose chicken thighs, because I had recently caught a sale, plus I already had some in the freezer. I used 4 boneless skinless thighs, and 2 skinless bone-on thighs. We really enjoy the juicy flavor of chicken thighs. I get a little tired of chicken breast all the time, so I really welcomed the change. You could easily use this marinade on chicken breasts, leg quarters, or any combination of your liking.

We found this marinade to be SUPER tasty. Ours marinated for approximately 3 hours. You could do it anywhere from 2 hours to overnight, whatever is most convenient to you. My only word of caution is, make sure you have a good blender or food processor for blending the marinade. If all you have is a $5 yard sale off-off-off brand “blender” with no lid, and just a paper plate in place of a lid, with slits cut in the top for ventilation, you *might* end up with hot marinade all over the place, crying tearful sobs of frustration. I’m not saying this from experience or anything… that’s just what I heard COULD happen. Or so I’ve heard.

Tequila Citrus Grilled Chicken

adapted from Cooking Light
serves 4

Ingredients:

MARINADE:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
3 oranges, peeled and sliced
1/2 grapefruit, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
1 cup tequila
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

CHICKEN:
6-8 chicken thighs
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray

Directions:

To prepare the marinade, heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté for 3 minutes. Add jalapeño peppers, oranges, and grapefruit; cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add juice; cook 2 minutes. Add tequila; cook 3 minutes. Add rosemary, cilantro, and vinegar; cook 1 minute.

Place marinade in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a bowl. Discard solids. Reserve 1/2 cup marinade. Place remaining marinade in a large zip-top plastic bag.

To prepare the chicken, pierce with a fork. Add the chicken, chili powder, salt, and pepper to marinade in bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Prepare grill.

Remove the chicken from bag; discard marinade. Place the chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; cook 12 minutes on each side or until chicken is done, basting frequently with reserved marinade.

Calories: 324; Fat: 16.3g (sat 3.7g,mono 7.7g,poly 3.2g); Protein: 34.1g; Carbohydrate: 11.9g; Fiber: 2.4g; Cholesterol: 120mg; Iron: 0.4mg; Sodium: 324mg; Calcium: 29mg

And up next… You’ll find out about those delicious side items that will perfectly compliment the chicken.

Part 1 Guacamole for Two

Part 2 Tequila Citrus Grilled Chicken

Part 3 Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

Part 4 Black Beans with Lime

Part 5 Key Lime Meltaways

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Guacamole

This is Part 1 of 5 of the special meal The Boy and I enjoyed this past Sunday. Never in my nearly 1 year of blogging, have I ever had a meal that included so many “blog-worthy” dishes. Some of these are things I’ve been making for a while, just haven’t gotten the energy to blog, and some are new recipes. The entire meal was VERY delicious. It’s nice to know we can enjoy the total restaurant experience, for a mere fraction of the price. Each component had a citrus theme, so they all tasted great together. I can’t wait to share each dish with you, I just hope I can get my blogging booty in gear to get it all done!

Up first is our appetizer and drinks. I had some blue corn chips I purchased for the chili competition, but didn’t end up taking with me. While at the grocery I decided to pick up an avocado, so we could enjoy guacamole with the blue corn chips. This is a basic, simple guacamole, that is also quite delicious. This is pretty much how I make it each time, and it’s never disappointed me. We enjoyed our appetizer while waiting for the chicken to finish cooking. It was perfectly complimented by my homemade margaritas.

Stay tuned for the next post…. Tequila Citrus Chicken!

Guacamole for 2

Ingredients:

1 avocado
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 Tablespoon chopped onion
1 clove garlic
garlic salt (or kosher salt)
pepper
lime juice (optional)

Directions:

Mash avocado with fork or back of spoon. Add onion, garlic, tomato, and stir to combine. Season liberally with salt, and pepper as desired. Add just a touch of lime juice to keep it from turning brown. Serve immediately.

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Blackberry Cornmeal Cupcakes

It’s amazing how time flies isn’t it? It was just over 3 months ago I was “adopted“. I’m so glad I stumbled upon Dine & Dish‘s site in time to sign up for this Adopt A Blogger program. I was lucky enough to get adopted by a sweet & enthusiastic blogger.

I know that just because our 3 months are over, it doesn’t mean it’ll be the end of our communication. I’ve made a friend. Clara helped me learn a lot about blogging, and had the idea for the super fun giveaway. I love giving people gifts, so that’s part of the reason I had so much fun! I was so inspired by our giveaway, I went out and bought the cupcake book for myself!

Here’s a recipe from my copy of the book, using some seasonal blackberries I received in my CSA share. I halved the recipe, and ended up with a nice small batch. I think if I make these again, I’ll opt to make them all as mini-cupcakes. I love they way they look better with just one blackberry right in the center. These were super delicious, and tasted almost like a sweet cornbread. The sugary crust topping I really enjoyed too! These are great alone, or would be good served with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Blackberry Cornmeal Cupcakes

from Martha Stewart Cupcakes
yields: 16

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. fine- or medium-ground yellow cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
7 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 containers (6 oz. each) fresh blackberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line 18 standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and 1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar. Set aside remaining sugar. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter. Pour over flour mixture, whisking to combine.

Fill each lined cup with a scant 1/4 cup batter. Top batter with blackberries (3-4 berries per cup), then sprinkle evenly with the remaining 2 tbsp sugar.

Bake until evenly browned on top, 20-25 minutes.

*Martha's tip says to be sure that your oven temperature is no lower than 375 degrees or your berries will sink. Well... mine did anyway in the regular sized cupcakes, but were fine in the minis.

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