Weekly Dish

In college, I lived in the dorm all four years with the same group of girls, who, now, ten years later are still my best friends. Our lives have taken different paths over the years, but we gather periodically for weddings, baby showers, and holidays, and we try to take a trip together once a year, although that has proven more difficult than we would like. My friend, Mica, a part of that group of college girlfriends (and the one in the center above), was the first of us to really exhibit any domestic skills. She was always in charge of food for parties, and when four of us lived together in an apartment one summer, Mica was really the only one who knew how to cook.

Mica’s culinary adventures that summer went something like this: after her summer school classes, she would come home and whip up all kinds of things — yellow cake mix cookies, brownies, and a divine key lime pie that I have particularly fond memories of — and then, without ever even sampling what she’d made, she would go work out for a couple of hours, come home, and make dinner, which was sometimes, but not often, just a little healthier than the sweets she left lying around. In retrospect, the three roommates who consumed all of this food — Lydia, Patty, and me — decided that Mica’s plan to stay skinny that summer was twofold: first, exercise all the time and eat very little; second, make the three of us fat so that she appeared even skinnier by comparison. Perhaps this plan was not exactly a consciously thought-out one, but I know of no other way to explain the image I have in my head of Mica in her work-out gear nibbling at a hardly-dressed bowl of iceberg lettuce while the rest of us feasted on fried pork chops, some sort of casserole, mashed potatoes, and whatever there was for dessert (for, there was always, always dessert).

Despite the number of calories consumed, living in an apartment with our own kitchen was a most-welcome change from our college cafeteria, and Mica was one of the first of my peers that I remember appearing comfortable in a kitchen; she and I have shared a love of cooking ever since. So, recently, when she asked if I had a recipe for chicken marsala that I liked, I started thinking about how our lives — and thus, our cooking habits, — have changed since our college days. Mica married a boy named Micah (I know, what are the odds?), moved to a small town, and is expecting their second child in just a few months. She now spends her days selling real estate and chasing after her two-year-old, so she’s as interested in good food that requires minimal effort as I am. With her in mind, I developed this recipe for what may not be the prettiest food I’ve ever made, but it is definitely tasty and easy to put together. And while it is certainly not the caloric equivalent of something as light as, say, undressed iceberg lettuce, for a recipe with a cream-based sauce, it could be much worse. I do hope that my dear friend Mica is eating the food she cooks these days and that she, along with the rest of you busy cooks out there, finds this recipe useful. I have made it for a couple of special occasions — an anniversary dinner or two — but it is also simple enough for a nice weeknight meal as well.

I am not claiming authenticity here; rather, I was interested creating a version of this traditional Italian recipe that would make quick work of what could seem like a labor-intensive or complicated dish. A heavy, oven-proof skillet (preferably cast iron) is the only pot you need, which makes clean-up a little less work as well. I served the chicken and its sauce over grits thickened with a little butter and some grated Romano cheese, but wide noodles, rice, or a mound of risotto would also make a nice bed for this dish. A simple green salad was all we needed for a side; next time, I’ll wilt some spinach with plenty of garlic for a warm green side dish.

Chicken Marsala with Oven-Roasted Shallots and Mushrooms

2 ounces bacon, diced
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 T. flour
4 large shallots, quartered
1 small red onion, cut into large chunks
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup half and half
2 T. Dijon mustard
Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large, oven-proof skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon pieces and set aside.

While the bacon is cooking, prepare the chicken breasts. First, place the breasts between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap and pound with the bottom of a heavy skillet. You’re looking for a uniform thickness for all 4 pieces of chicken. Then, dust the chicken with the flour on both sides and sprinkle with salt. After you’ve removed the bacon, add the chicken pieces to the skillet and cook, over medium-high heat, without disturbing for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned. Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon.

Add the vegetables to the skillet — mushrooms, onions and shallots — and pour in the vinegar and mustard, stirring to combine. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt. Put the whole skillet into the oven and roast the vegetables for 30 minutes. During this 30 minutes, you can fix the side dishes (or have your husband do it and you feed your baby and put her to bed).

Return the skillet to the stove, and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the chicken breasts and bacon pieces back to the skillet. Pour in the wine, and deglaze the pan: stir, scraping the bottom of the skillet and letting the chicken and vegetables absorb the liquid. When the wine has reduced by half, after a couple of minutes, pour in the cream. Add a bit of salt to taste and stir, until the sauce is thickened and brown and the breasts are cooked all the way through, another couple of minutes. Serve immediately.

This chicken salad recipe is for my sister, who last time I offered her my version with pesto and pine nuts, turned up her nose and said, “I like my chicken salad girly. You know, with grapes and stuff.”

Well, of course she does. This is a girl with shoes and purses in every shade of the rainbow (I have two pairs of flip flops and a black catchall tote), a fabulously expansive make-up collection (mascara and lip gloss for me, thank you), and enough trendy outfits to clothe the cast of Clueless (I’m most comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt).

But whatever our outward differences, Elizabeth and I love many of the same things; good food and each other’s company rank pretty high on the list.

So, sister, next time you come to visit, I’ll make this chicken salad for you, grapes and all. And you better not turn your nose up!

For a pretty, girly way to serve this salad, I halved an avocado, laid it on a bed of spinach, and dressed the whole plate with a spritz of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, and a healthy sprinkle of salt. Then, I scooped the chicken salad into the avocado cavities. All in all, I loved the velvety texture and nutty flavor the avocado added; plus, serving it this way eliminates the need for bread, which makes this recipe healthy for low-carb folks.

For me, good chicken salad is in the details: I always use homemade mayonnaise, as I am terrified of the jarred stuff, but I also think the taste makes a big difference. Toasted pecans add crunch and a depth of flavor, and I love to play pungent red onion against something sweet, like grapes (only I used cherries this time because I had them on hand). Chicken salad comes in many variations and is infinitely flexible, so add what you like and leave out what you don’t. Here’s how I make this one:

Girly Chicken Salad 

2 cups cooked chicken, cut into small pieces (I use leftover roast chicken, both white and dark meat)
Two handfuls of grapes or cherries, pitted and halved
1/4 cup red onion, minced finely
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/3-3/4 cup homemade mayonnaise, depending on how dressed you like your salad
1/2 t. Kosher salt
Baby spinach
2 avocados, pitted, peeled, and halved
Olive oil
1 lemon

To toast the pecans, either dry-roast them in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan to prevent them from burning. Or, spread them on a baking sheet, and toast them in a 350-degree oven for 5-7 minutes. Mix the chicken pieces, red onion, pecans, and grapes or cherries, tossing gently. Add the mayonnaise, starting with a little, and then adding until the salad is dressed enough for your taste (this is such a matter of individual preference).

To serve, cover 2 plates with the spinach leaves. Top with the avocado halves. Sprinkle the whole plate with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Scoop in the chicken salad. Serves 2 (you’ll have 2-4 servings of chicken salad leftover.)

Recipe links:

Mushroom-Arugula Risotto (I subsituted spinach for the arugula and served the risotto inside roasted portabello mushroom caps, which was pretty, and also added more mushroom-y goodness to the risotto.)
Sweet-Hot Grilled Chicken
Angel Hair with Goat Cheese and Caramelized Vegetables
Blue Cheese and Mango Quesadillas

Here’s an idea for pizza inspired by the restaurant where I worked in college. The chef there invented this pizza as a way to make the peanut sauce and grilled chicken–both of which he prepared in great abundance each week–serve double duty. Whenever I have leftover peanut sauce and a chicken breast that needs to be used, this simple preparation often finds its way into my oven.

Authentic Thai cuisine it is not, but I love the combination of the cooked and raw ingredients atop a fluffy crust. I keep meaning to experiment with different recipes for pizza crust, but so far, I tend to stick with the basic crust/foccacia recipe both because I have it memorized and because it takes so little time to throw together. But any crust will do if you have a recipe you prefer.

Thai Chicken Pizza

One half recipe pizza dough
One grilled chicken breast, sliced
1/2 cup Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce plus more for serving
A handful of shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Stretch the dough to fit a round pizza pan or a rectangular cookie sheet, and prick the dough all over with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes. Spread the pre-baked crust with the peanut sauce, sliced chicken, and cheese. Bake for another 5 or 6 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is light brown.

To serve, top with any combination of the following:
Cilantro leaves
Basil leaves (I used lemon basil)
Chopped peanuts
Shredded carrots
Sliced green onions
Bean sprouts
Snow peas or sugar snaps

Drizzle with remaining peanut sauce.

Moving to a new city has been hard on my entertaining sensibilities. I love to have people over for dinner, but how do you do that when you don’t really know anyone? I have made friends with a girl in my program named Casey, who is from Missouri, also new to Baton Rouge, and with her sister, Christy. They were officially our first Baton Rouge dinner guests, and pizza was on the menu the night they came. I was too embarrassed to take a picture of the food while they were here, and as you can see, of the two whole pizzas I made, the four of us only left these two pieces (a successful meal, then, no?). It was lovely to have nice people to share our table with and reminded me why I enjoy entertaining so much.

Speaking of friends, I’d like to wish a happy anniversary to Jon and Hannah, who are vacationing in Yellow Stone right now, and a happy birthday to Jerrod, whose wife Jessie is being induced today! Their family will have another birth to celebrate, which I hope to report to you tomorrow.

Although I didn’t plan to invite our new friends over when I made this pizza, it turned out to be a good choice for first-time guests–not too fancy, but the pesto and homemade crust still made it dressed-up enough for company. This recipe is another one I learned at the Brick-Oven; I ate their version of this pie many, many afternoons between the lunch and dinner shifts.

The crust takes a bit of planning, but it isn’t difficult; it has to rise for an hour or so, but once it does, assembling the pizza is a snap. I used the pesto leftover from the Pesto Chicken Salad last week and the roast chicken from last night’s dinner. Here’s how it came together:

For the crust:

1 package yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for kneading

1 teaspoon pesto

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon garlic salt

In the bowl of a mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the water and sugar; stir to combine. Let it sit until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on low speed until all ingredients are combined. Knead with the dough hook for about 8 minutes, until a ball forms. Knead for a few more minutes by hand, coating your hands with olive oil as you work. The dough should be smooth and stretchy. Put back in the mixer bowl, cover, and allow it to rise for about an hour or an hour and a half.

To assemble pizza:

1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

4 tablespoons pesto

Olive oil

Roast chicken, chopped (about 1-2 cups)

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Separate the dough into 2 balls and let them rest while you prepare the other ingredients. Grease and flour two baking sheets. Toss the chicken with a tablespoon of the pesto and some olive oil, until coated. Stretch the dough by hand, or roll out with a rolling pin. Drizzle lightly with oil, rubbing it into the surface. Bake for about 7 minutes. Remove from the oven. Spread the rest of the pesto over the crust, diluting with oil as necessary to make it spread. Sprinkle the chicken and sun-dried tomatoes evenly over the pesto. Cover with mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is brown at the edges.

In the Aunt’s Recipe Book, there are two entries for Roast Chicken, one from Aunt Em and one from Aunt Prissy. Aunt Emily’s says, “Mine’s better than Prissy’s so make this one.” Aunt Prissy’s says, “Mine is much, much better than Emily’s so do use my recipe.” What’s a girl to do? When I first started cooking after I got married, I was not too fond of the idea of a whole chicken. The first time I bought one, armed with my two competing recipes, I removed the plastic packaging and sat the naked bird in the sink. I obediently followed the aunts’ instructions: “Wash chicken inside and out. Pat dry.” There was just one problem: all this gross stuff came out of the bird when I ran the water through his cavity, and I had the water on too high, so chicken juice splattered all over my face. When I set him down, it looked like he was standing in my sink looking at me. It was all too much for my delicate constitution at the time–I burst into tears and threw the bird away. I’m much braver now, but if a whole chicken intimidates you, don’t worry, you aren’t the only one.

If you can conquer your fears the first time, cooking a whole chicken is an easy way to kill two meals with one bird (pardon the pun!) The tender, roast breast meat is delicious with a bit of the pan drippings drizzled over it; I like to pair it with rice and a vegetable. These roasted carrots are crispy on the outside and sweet and soft on the inside, and the subtle flavors of the rice pilaf complement the chicken nicely without overpowering it. Once you get the chicken prepared, the rest of the meal comes together pretty quickly, but make sure the bird is good and defrosted–a frozen chicken takes a long, long time to cook all the way through, which I know from the last time we had dinner at about 10:00.

My Roast Chicken (a combination of the aunts’ techniques)

1 whole chicken

2 lemons

2 cloves of garlic

Several sprigs rosemary

Olive oil

Lemon pepper

Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the innards and neck from the chicken. Gross, I know, but just reach in there and pull them out. Like pulling off a Band-aid, the quicker you do it, the less it hurts. Wash the chicken inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. Place the bird in a roasting pan, and coat with olive oil, rubbing the oil into the skin. Pierce one lemon several times with a knife and place it, along with the garlic cloves, inside the cavity. Slice the other lemon thinly. Place the lemon slices and rosemary sprigs under the skin on top of the breasts–you might have to use a knife to separate the skin from the meat. Season the whole bird with salt and lemon pepper. Roast, breast side up, for between an hour and an hour and a half. The chicken is done when its temperature reaches 180 degrees, or when the juices run clear. Baste occasionally with the pan juices.

While the chicken is cooking, you can prepare the carrots and rice. For the carrots, I buy the package of baby carrots, and place them on a cookie sheet, whole. Toss with lots of olive oil, Kosher salt, and cracked pepper. Roast in the oven with the chicken for about 45 minutes to an hour. The carrots’ skins should shrivel and begin to crust around the edges. Then, you can take your time with the rice pilaf. I learned the technique from Sara Foster’s Rice Pilaf for All Seasons in Fresh Everyday; this one is my variation.

Minted Orange Rice Pilaf with Pine Nuts

1 T. butter

1 T. olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 cup pine nuts

Zest of two oranges

1 1/2 cups jasmine rice

1 cup orange juice

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup chicken broth or water

Kosher salt and cracked pepper

1 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet or saucepan. Sauté the onion and garlic until both are soft but not brown. Add the pine nuts and half the orange zest and cook until nuts are fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Add the rice, and cook while stirring for another 3-5 minutes, or until the rice is coated with the butter and oil, sliding around the pan easily. Add the liquids, and salt and pepper well. Bring the mixture to a boil; then, reduce the heat so that it’s simmering. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in half of the mint leaves. To serve, top each serving with reserved orange zest and mint leaves.

After dinner, debone the chicken and reserve the leftover meat. Even better, talk your husband into doing it (the best, of course, is if he offers, like mine does. Thanks David!) You can use it for all kinds of things…like the pizza tomorrow!

The weekend of Katrina, our friends Jerrod and Jessie were supposed to come stay with us. With Katrina and Jessie’s baby on the way, we decided to postpone the trip. I planned to make this chicken dish for them while they were here; it’s one of my favorite things to make for a small group of guests. Chicken and potatoes sounds simple, I know, but one of the things I really like about this recipe is that the flavors are surprisingly strong. The rich, citrus flavor of the roasted lemons adds just the right bite, and the capers and artichokes mingle nicely with the white wine to add some depth. I usually make the potatoes with a lot of rosemary too, but, well, you all know what happened to my rosemary. If you have some, please chop it and add when you sauté the potatoes. The trick to making this dish is timing, but if you follow these steps, it isn’t hard:

10-12 very small new potatoes, scrubbed

4 lemons

4 chicken breasts

Olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons capers

1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, diced

1/4 cup white wine

2 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat the broiler.

2. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil. Boil potatoes until fork-tender, about 20 minutes.

3. Halve the lemons, and place in a flame-resistant dish (or in a foil packet). Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt and cracked pepper. Broil the lemons until the edges begin to darken, about 8-10 minutes (but watch carefully). When they’re done, set them aside to cool.

4. While the lemons are broiling and the potatoes boiling, flatten each chicken breast to about 1/2-inch thickness. Dredge in flour; salt and pepper.

5. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet on medium-high. When the oil is hot, lay the chicken in the pan and cook for about 4-6 minutes per side, until brown and crispy. Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with foil.

6. When the potatoes are done, drain, cool, and cut into quarters.

7. In the skillet, add 2 cloves of garlic, and stir briefly. Immediately add the potatoes, and sauté, stirring occasionally and scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Here is where you would add the rosemary if you had it. Sigh.

8. Cook the potatoes until all sides are brown; remove them to the platter with the chicken.

9. Add to the skillet one tablespoon of butter and the remaining garlic. Sauté the garlic for just a minute, making sure not to burn it. Add the artichoke hearts and capers, and stir-fry for another minute or two. Deglaze the pan with the wine, and cook while stirring. Add the juice from the roasted lemons and cook for another couple of minutes; the sauce should reduce a little.

10. Pour the sauce over the chicken and potatoes; serve with any extra sauce. Serves 4.

DELICIOUS!

This week’s menu is the one I fixed after the hurricane, so it represents a new start (at least in my refrigerator, which had to be completely purged). We came back from staying with friends in Mississippi to a city where groceries were hard to come by (at least that’s what we’d been told). So, I sent David to the grocery store to pick up a few things, and this is what we ended up with: chicken, chicken, and chicken again. So, if you find yourself with a whole bunch of chicken and you don’t know what to do with it, this week’s menu is for you. With just a few other purchases, you’ll have a week’s worth of meals at your fingertips (even if they are all, well, chicken).

For this first one, David grilled all but 4 breasts, and I used the leftover grilled chicken for the Strawberry-Goat Cheese Salad and the Pesto Chicken Salad. I made the focaccia bread and mayonnaise for these sandwiches; the mayonnaise I divided in half: one half for tonight, and one half for the pesto chicken salad. Now, I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about the balsamic mayonnaise, as I am particular about the use of both balsamic vinegar and mayonnaise. My Aunt Prissy forbids the use of store-bought mayonnaise in anything but comeback sauce, and I don’t like the taste or texture of the congealed, eerily white store-bought stuff.

The focaccia bread, I like with lots and lots of rosemary. But strangely, when I went out to cut some sprigs from my favorite evergreen herb–from the plants my husband gave me as GIFT, mind you–I discovered that they were all, well, dead. My idea was to leave them in their pot because they seemed so happy there, but no, my expert gardener husband just had to try to put them in the ground. Thanks, David, thanks a lot. (Do you sense the bitterness?) I had to use the sprigs in my window I’d been trying to root, which only amounted to about a tablespoon. If you make it, please use as much rosemary as you can get your hands on (and don’t let David anywhere near your rosemary plants).

My sister-in-law, Hannah (that’s her below on our trip this summer to Napa Valley), emailed me the recipe for these yummy sandwiches; the original recipe comes from Jane and Michael Stern’s Southern California Cooking from the Cottage: Casual Cuisine from Old La Jolla’s Favorite Beachside Bungalow, reprinted in The Splendid Table’s e-newsletter, The Weeknight Kitchen. Here’s my version:

Grilled Chicken Breasts

4 pounds chicken
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 T. honey
Combine all liquid ingredients and pour over chicken breasts; salt and pepper well. Marinate at least a few hours, preferably overnight. Grill the chicken over a medium flame for a total of 12 minutes, turning every 2-4 minutes to prevent the honey from burning. Baste as you turn it.

Tomato-Basil Relish
This is best after it’s marinated for several hours, so I make it when I marinate the chicken.

3 ripe Roma tomatoes, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 T. chopped basil
2 t. olive oil
1/2 t. Kosher salt
Cracked black pepper
Combine and refrigerate.

Focaccia Bread with Rosemary

1 pkg. yeast
1 t. sugar
2 cups warm water
5 cups flour (I used a combination of all-purpose and bread flour because I only had 3 cups of all-purpose in the house)
2 t. salt
2 T. olive oil
4 T. chopped rosemary (or more)

Mix the yeast and sugar together, and sprinkle the mixture over the warm water. Let it stand for about 5 minutes, or until the yeast dissolves. In a mixer, combine the water/yeast with the remaining ingredients with a dough hook until it forms a ball (or something resembling a ball). Remove dough to a floured surface and knead with your hands. (This is my favorite part–I love the feel of the smooth, elastic dough and the smell of the rosemary). Return to mixing bowl, cover, and let it rise for about an hour. Divide the dough into two balls and place in greased cake pans (some people use cookie sheets, but I think the bread stays more moist if you bake it in a pan). Preheat the oven to 475, and let the dough rest in the pans until the oven is heated. Stretch the dough to fit the pans, drizzle with more olive oil, sprinkle with Kosher salt, and bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Homemade Mayonnaise

1 egg
1 T. cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 t. Kosher salt
1/2 t. paprika
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
3/4 cup salad oil (canola or vegetable or a combination), divided
Place all ingredients in the blender, but start with only 1/4 cup of the oil. After the ingredients are blended, with the motor running, add the remaining oil in a very slow, steady stream. The mayonnaise should emulsify, creating a very thick consistency. Remove one half of the mayonnaise from the blender, and reserve for the pesto chicken salad later in the week. Add to the remaining mayo in the blender 2 tablespoons of balsamic mayonnaise and blend just until the vinegar is incorporated.

To assemble the sandwiches: Cut the focaccia loaves into fourths. Slice open one of the fourths, spread liberally with balsamic mayonnaise, add a chicken breast, and top with about 2 tablespoons of the tomato relish. Serve the sandwiches with a green salad, or with chips and the remaining tomato relish.

I love to make quesadillas. I love the idea of making an interesting filling, placing it in a tortilla, frying it, and voila! — a crispy, melt-in-your-mouth-good combination of flavors. This recipe is inspired partly by the Black Bean Enchiladas in Intercourses, which are also delish, but more labor-intensive and partly by a smoky black bean pizza that the pizza chef at the Brick-Oven used to make. For these, you just need some good salsa, leftover chicken, a can of black beans, some bacon, and some cheese. My husband really likes these, and the filling makes enough to have plenty of leftovers.

For the filling:

6 slices bacon

1/2 yellow onion

1 cup chopped green onion

4 cloves garlic, chopped finely

Chicken (I had 2 breasts leftover from grilling, so I used them, chopped, but shredded cooked chicken would also work)

1 can black beans, drained

1/2 cup salsa

Monterey Jack cheese (with peppers if you like spicy)

Tortillas (burrito-sized work well, but if you have the smaller ones, just use 2, instead of folding them in half)

In a skillet, cook the bacon slices until done. Remove, and drain off all but about a tablespoon of the grease, and sauté the onions and garlic over medium-low (be careful not to let the garlic burn). Add the diced chicken, black beans, and salsa. Cook over low for about 10 minutes, until you can begin to mash up the beans to get a good, thick consistency. Crumble in the reseved bacon. Remove the filling from the skillet. Fill tortillas with the chicken mixture and top liberally with cheese. Fry the tortillas in a little bit of oil (I use the same skillet–mindful always of my sweet husband who cleans up my messes!). Serve with salsa and guacamole (Ina Garten’s recipe in The Barefoot Contessa is my favorite–chunky, with lots of lemon and salt). The citrusy flavor of the guacamole works well with the smoky intensity of the quesadillas. We like to drink a spicy wine with a meal like this also–Zinfandel is our favorite. Or, of course, margaritas if we don’t have school the next day. Tequila and early mornings, in my experience, are not a favorable combination, but hey, if it works for you. . .

Grilling is one of those summertime pleasures that, when summer’s over, I always feel I haven’t indulged in enough. My husband is excellent on the grill, and it’s so quick—plus I usually wind up with much less mess in the kitchen. If I remember to marinate the meat, we can usually throw dinner together in about half an hour (after the grill’s been fired up, of course). We have heard great things about gas grills, but we are traditional (and poor), so we use the old-fashioned charcoal method. I love the smoky flavor the coals give to whatever I cook.

This chicken recipe derives from leftover tequila in the house and a margarita sauce I once watched a chef at the Brick Oven (a restaurant where I worked in college—sadly, it no longer exists) fix for tilapia. If you have margarita mix on hand, I know it would be good in place of some of the orange juice; we just didn’t have any when I got ready to mix up the marinade.

Grilled Margarita Chicken

For the marinade:

½ c. tequila (I use whatever is cheapest; we only use the good stuff for real margaritas)

3 lbs. chicken breasts

2-4 cloves garlic, depending on the size of your garlic (the stuff I bought at the farmer’s market last week is tremendous, so I only used 2)

Juice of one orange and three limes (if you roll them on the counter a few times, putting a good bit of pressure on them, they will yield more juice. Cutting them into wedges instead of halves helps too.)

1 T. chili paste (I used the Sambal chili paste I bought at an Asian market, but any hot chili sauce would do)

2 t. Kosher salt

Ground pepper

2 t. honey plus extra for drizzling

1 t. cumin

Olive oil and orange juice (or margarita mix) to cover

Mix together everything but the olive oil and orange juice (I do it right in the baking dish, or whatever I’m putting the chicken in); then place the chicken in the dish and turn several times until it’s good and coated. Drizzle with more honey and pour over equal parts olive oil and orange juice/margarita mix until the breasts are just covered. Marinate at least a few hours, preferably overnight. Grill over a medium fire for about 20 minutes, turning frequently to prevent it from getting too black on one side.

I served the chicken with a version of Sara Foster’s Apple and Avocado Salad from Fresh Everyday and grilled corn. I assemble the salad right on the plate, as the chicken and corn are cooking. I use spinach instead of watercress, and place one layer of torn leaves on the plate. Top with sliced avocado, chopped mint leaves, green onions, and chopped green apple. Instead of mixing up a separate dressing, I drizzle equal parts lime juice and olive oil on each salad and top with a good dose of salt and pepper. Finish with a good handful of crumbled feta cheese. The lime in the chicken and in the salad dressing is a nice pairing.

For the Grilled Corn, I like it simple. Wrap cobs in aluminum foil, dotted with pats of butter, and cook for about 10 minutes. I like sweet summer corn very plain, seasoned only with salt and pepper (and of course the butter); I also like it crunchy, so if you prefer yours cooked more thoroughly, just leave it on the grill a little longer.

Set aside the leftover chicken breasts; you will need 2 for the Taboulleh chicken salad, and then you should still have 3 or 4 left. I will probably use them for quesadillas next week, so I wrap them really well in plastic wrap and place them in a large Ziploc bag. That way, they won’t dry out in the fridge.