Grilled

Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

Summer is coming… but the warm weather is already here! Time to fire up the grill!

I love when I can find recipes that are almost all done on the grill so I can keep the kitchen cool during hot months. I may also love recipes like this because it means I do the easy prep work and then the hubby does all the hard work out in the heat at the grill while I stay cool inside with a margarita. It’s all about team work, right? 😉

Okay, onto the dish. Each of these components is delicious on it’s own but when brought together you get some amazing tacos! You have the grilled chili lime chicken which is so tender and has so much flavor, a little zest from the lime paired up with all those delicious seasonings and a tad of heat. Then you have this delicious chunky salsa made up of a sweet caramelized pineapple with a nice smoky flavor from the grilled red pepper and jalapeño. And is if that isn’t enough, (yes, it gets better!) then you add this refreshing avocado crema. Just give me a bag of tortilla chips and I will go to town on that sauce!

Another thing I love about this recipe is how pretty it is! Look at all those amazing colors! I truly love everything about this recipe! I hope you will too.

Chunky Pineapple Salsa

Note: If you want to cut down on the amount of preparation at dinner time, you can marinade the chicken for as long as 24 hours in advance and the crema can be made up to four hours in advance. Having a chunk of the leg work done in advance makes this a perfect recipe to make for dinner guests. All you have to do is grill the chicken, pineapple, and peppers, and warm up some tortillas.

CHILI LIME CHICKEN INGREDIENTS
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp lime juice

PINEAPPLE SALSA INGREDIENTS
20 oz can pineapple slices
1/2 red onion, sliced
red bell pepper, deseeded and quartered
jalapeno, deseeded and halved
olive oil
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

AVOCADO CREMA INGREDIENTS
1 avocado
1/2 c sour cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder

OTHER INGREDIENTS
tortillas
pepperjack cheese, shredded
lime, cut into wedges

STEPS

Place the chicken breasts in a large Pyrex dish.
Whisk together all the additional chili lime chicken ingredients in a small bowl and slather all over both sides of the chicken breasts.
Cover the Pyrex with plastic wrap and set aside to marinade for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, begin preparing items for the salsa. Skewer the red onions and then drizzle them, the bell pepper, and jalapeño with olive oil and set aside with the pineapple.
Preheat your grill to 375–425º.
Grill the chicken for 8–10 minutes on one side and then flip.
Add the pineapple and peppers to the grill and cook for 4–5 minutes before flipping and then continue to grill them for another 4–5 minutes.
Continue to cook the chicken until a thermometer reads 160º when inserted into the thickest part of the meat, the pineapple until it is nicely caramelized, and the veggies until they have some nice grill marks.
Transfer everything from the grill to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.
While all the grilled items are resting get started on the avocado cream. Add all the crema ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth and well blended, set aside.
Chop up the pineapple, onion, and peppers and place them in a bowl.
Add the cilantro, lime juice, ginger, cumin, salt, and pepper to the bowl and stir.
Chop up the chicken and set aside.
Everything is finally ready! Time to assemble the tacos!
Heat up your tortillas and top each one with meat, cheese, pineapple salsa, and avocado crema.
Devour!

Recipe adapted from Carlsbad Cravings.

Dinners

Recipe—Rio Grande Spice Rub New York Steaks with Grilled Red Onions

August 16, 2013January 26, 2018 Diva di Cucina

My husband is the grill master. Whenever we are grilling up any kind of meat I let him handle the seasoning of the meat. This steak dinner is the exception. This is a recipe that I like to prepare for him. (He still does the grilling of course. Grills have a way of making the mascara on my eyelashes melt. Grilling is not my thing.) This is actually a recipe I found in one of my many Rachel Ray cookbooks and it is probably my favorite recipe of hers. The spicy rub is out of this world amazing if you like a little heat, and I do mean little, I promise your mouth wont’ be on fire or anything like that. When this tasty steak is paired with the sweet grilled red onions prepare for a party in your mouth. Oh man, tasty goodness! Ladies if you want to impress your man with an out of this world steak then cook him this. You will make his palette and his stomach very happy. So happy, you may even be able to get a nice foot massage out of it. *wink wink*

INGREDIENTS
4 New York Steaks (10–12 ounces each)
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 large red onion, cut into 1/3” thick slices
olive oil
salt and pepper

STEPS

In a small bowl combine chili powder, cumin, coriander, kosher slat, and cayenne pepper.
Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and run an even amount of the seasoning all over the steaks.
Set the steaks aside and allow to rest for a half hour.
While the steaks are marinating, drizzle the slices of red onion with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. (I use a toothpick inserted in the sides of the onion slices to help hold them together while on the grille.)
Preheat the grill to high heat.
Once the grill has reached temperature cook the onions and steaks for about 5–6 minutes on each side flipping once or until the steaks have reached desired temperature.
Transfer the steaks to a cutting board or serving dish and allow them to rest for 5 minutes for the juices to redistribute.
Garnish each steak with a pile of the grilled red onions.
Serve and chow down.

Recipe adapted from Rachel Ray.

Side Dishes

Recipe—Mexican Grilled Corn on the Cob

April 25, 2013January 26, 2018 Diva di Cucina

When planning out dinner menus I find it challenging to come up with Mexican side dishes beyond the typical beans and rice. And besides, when I am watching my carbs beans and rice just don’t work for me. I stumbled upon a recipe for Mexican grilled corn on Pinterest a few months back and have been meaning to try it. Boy am I happy I did! It was delicious! And by delicious I mean, the best corn on the cob I have ever eaten. While I normally just cover my ear of corn with butter and salt this was a welcomed change. The sour cream gave the corn a nice creaminess and the flavors of the smoky chili powder and zest of lime really fired up my taste buds. Sour cream has less than a third of the calories that butter does, so this corn not only tasted awesome, but it is also way healthy! Low calorie, low carb, and tastes amazing! Win, win, and win!

Note: If you want to try this recipe but don’t feel like firing up the grill, you can boil the corn. To boil corn, place the shucked corncobs in a large pot of boiling water and cover it. Cook for 4–6 minutes. Remove the corn from the water with tongs and continue seasoning by following the last 3 steps.

INGREDIENTS
4 ears of corn
1/2 c sour cream
chili powder
salt
pepper
4 lime wedges

STEPS

Cut of both ends of the corn so that the cob is exposed on one end and most of the stalk cut gone from the other, leaving the husk on.
Fill your sink or a large pot with water.
Soak the corn in the water for 15 minutes. (This allows some water to get inside so that the corn steams while on the hot grill, and also makes the husks wet so that they don’t catch fire.)
While the corn is soaking, preheat the grille to 350º.
Remove the corn from the water and shake off most of the moisture.
Cook the corn over direct heat for 15–20 minutes, making sure to turn every 5 minutes.
Remove the corn from the grille.
Carefully shuck the corn, remove all of the husks and corn silk. (I use an oven mitt to grasp one end to keep from burning my hands.)
Using your fingers or a butter knife spread a thin layer of sour cream all over the entire cob.
Sprinkle the corncob with the chili powder, salt, and pepper.
Spritz with fresh squeezed limejuice.
Devour!