This recipe is about the marinade I soaked the chicken boobs in.  That colorful vegetable medley on the side is Sweet & Zesty Fiesta Salad.  It works as an addictive dip or a beautiful side to the chicken.  I've also eaten it all by itself for a light lunch.  It's very versatile.

As for the marinade, the perky lime juice mingles with the fresh onion and spicy garlic.  The parsley and rosemary add color and a fresh taste of bright green to the chicken.  All together, they make an incredibly flavorful chicken that only needs a hot grill to finish it off.  You could easily roast the chicken after marinating it, but I like firing up the grill any chance I get.

BRAZILIAN GARLIC-LIME MARINADE
Makes 1 cup; enough to marinate 2 to 3 pounds of meat.

• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 small onion, enough to make 1/3 cup
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary

Place garlic, onion and salt in a 1-cup food processor until finely chopped.  Scrape into dish or bag you will use to marinate meat.  Add the lime juice, vinegar, parsley and rosemary.  The marinade taste best used within a few hours of making.

Use this marinade for pork, chicken or lamb.  Marinate thin cuts of meat (steaks, chops, and chicken boobs), covered in the frig for 1 to 2 hours; larger cuts of meat, such as pork loins or shoulders, for 6 to 8 hours or even overnight.

IF YOU'RE GRILLING THE CHICKEN

Make SURE to coat the chicken with cooking oil before placing on the grill, to prevent sticking.  Grill chicken as you normally prefer.

IF YOU'RE ROASTING THE CHICKEN

Make sure to coat the chicken with cooking oil.  Heat oven to 350ºF degrees. On a baking sheet covered with heavy duty foil, drizzle and coat breasts with light cooking oil. Bake covered for 35 to 40 minutes for bone-in breasts. For boneless breasts, roast for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the thickness.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

My first attempt at grilling a chicken with a beer can in its butt.  Uh, fun? Slightly challenging.   Most definitely delicious.  But I don't think the beer had anything to do with it.

This qualifies as a Simple Daily Recipe because there was barely anything to do.  I wanted it to be a little more than it was, but it just turned out to be plain ol'simple.

HERE'S ALL IT TOOK

• 1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) whole chicken, thawed
• 2 tablespoons of oil or soften butter
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• Seasoned Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 can of beer

Make a drip pan by covering a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place under grill grid away from heat.  Get the gas grill prepped for indirect heat and let it get to about 350ºF degrees.

Slather the chicken with oil or soften butter, rub the crushed garlic clove all over the skins, then sprinkle with the seasoned salt and pepper to your liking.  Wash your hands.

Pop the top on the beer can a poke a few extra holes in it, using a church key-type can opener.  After drinking pouring off half of the beer, hold the chicken with the opening of the body cavity at the bottom, lower it onto the beer can so the can fits into the cavity.

Pull the legs forward to make like a tripod so the chicken stands upright.  Tuck the wing tips behind the chicken's back. Carefully move the chicken to the grill and stand on grill grid but over the drip pan area.  Make sure the can is not over the heat source.

The chicken will take 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours to cook through.  Using tongs, carefully transfer the chicken in its upright position on the beer can to a platter and present it to your family or guests.  Let it rest for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the chicken from the can.  Tare care not to spill the hot beer on yourself.  Quarter or carve the chicken and serve it up!

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

There's nothing like grilled chicken boobs, especially when they've been slathered with barbecue sauce. MMM!

PREPARING A CHARCOAL GRILL

For direct grilling, first light the charcoal in a chimney starter. Crumple 1 or 2 sheets of newsprint loosely in the bottom of the chimney starter.  Place the chimney starter on the bottom grate of your grill.  Pour the charcoal briquettes, lump charcoal or even chunks of wood in the top of the starter, filling the cylinder to the top.  Light the newspaper using a gas lighter with a long metal snout or a long kitchen match.  You'll see a thick column of smoke.  This is normal.  Then, the charcoal or wood will ignite.  The coals are ready when all glow orange-red, a process that takes 15 to 25 minutes.

Dump the lit coals from the starter into the bottom of the grill.  Wear a heavy glove to protect your hand.  Using a long handled implement, rake the burning coals to make a even layer across 3/4 of the grilling area.  Leave a zone without coals for keeping food warm without overcooking.

PREPARING A GAS GRILL

Depending on the type of grill, follow the manufacturer's instruction.  With the most basic two burner grill, preheat only one burner on medium high.  When it gets hot, place the food over the unlit burner.

CHICKEN BOOBS ON THE GRILL

When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate.  Arrange the breasts on the hot grate, all facing the same direction, 45 degree angle to the bars of the grate.  After 2 minutes, rotate each breast 90 degrees to create an attractive crosshatch of grill marks.  Grill for 4 to 6 minutes per side.  To test for doneness, poke a breast in the thickest part with your finger.  It should feel firm to the touch.

With the last few minutes of grilling, slather on your favorite barbecue sauce.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

Slow roasted in the oven, this chicken came out tender and full of flavor.  I served it with good ol'mashed potatoes and fresh baked Deli Style Rye bread.  It made my family very happy.

Pictured above, I roasted our favorite pieces from a whole chicken.  The rest of the chicken went into the stock pot to make homemade chicken broth.

HERE'S ALL I DID

• 1 whole chicken, cut up
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 4 to 6 garlic cloves
• Herbs de Provence seasoning
• salt & freshly ground peppercorns

Heat oven to 350ºF.
In a large dutch oven or roasting pan, pour the melted butter in first, roll the chicken pieces in the butter and leave skin side up.  Drop in the garlic cloves between the pieces.  Sprinkle the seasonings over the chicken to your taste.  Roast slowly 45 to 60 minutes, until juices run clear and light meat is no longer pink in center.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

My friend, Patsy from Family, Friends and Food had me drooling over her simple Crispy Chicken Recipe using Panko Bread Crumbs.  Inspired by Patsy's cooking process, I ventured to make my own version.  But only because I had to work with what I had on hand in the pantry.

I liked this recipe because I could BAKE the chicken in the oven in a relatively short time.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES
to feed 2 adults, 2 small kiddos

• 1 fresh large egg
• 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
• 3 to 5 dashes of Tabasco pepper sauce (optional)

• 1 1/2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons oil or fresh roasted garlic oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch thick cuts

Heat oven to 400ºF.

Beat the egg, milk and Tabasco sauce together in a small bowl and set aside.  In a pie plate, mix bread crumbs, salt and pepper.  Stir in oil.

Dip the cuts of chicken into the egg/milk liquid then move to pie plate with seasoned bread crumbs.  Press the crumbs into the chicken until well coated, lightly shake excess crumbs.  Place on cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cut the thickest piece to make sure no pink exists, if you're not sure that 30 minutes is long enough.  If the chicken pieces are different sizes, then you may want to remove the smallest pieces from the oven to keep from drying out.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

by Central Market

Allow the butter to come to room temperature in a small bowl. Cream the butter before adding the other ingredients. Mix well so that the herbs are evenly distributed. Chill in the refrigerator until firm OR shape into a log on clear plastic wrap when you refrigerate and then slice into pats. Freeze any leftovers.

Put butter pats on top of pan-fried or grilled steak just before serving. Pasta and cooked, drained green vegetables can also be tossed in lemon herb butter while they are still hot.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tsp Rosemary, dried
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Combine and serve.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

Completely packed with flavor and simple to put together, Chicken Tortilla Soup is one recipe you'll want to double and have ready to take to work with you for lunch.  It's really a wonderful soup that can be made from leftovers.

The first time I made this soup, I didn't make enough.  Don't you hate that?

It was SO GOOD, it made me wanna slap myself for never makin' it before.  "Why did I take so long to make this wonderful soup?" I said to myself.  "Shame on me!"

I followed the Barefoot Contessa At Home cookbook directions for making Ina's Mexican Chicken Soup.  I DID NOT follow the ingredients list.  I love Ina, but come on!  She LURVS French cuisine AND she hates cilantro.  I, I don't understand that at all.  It goes against my common Tex-Mex sense to trust any Mexican recipes she publishes.

HOWEVER, I do trust her methods of cooking vegetables and soup building techniques.  So, I used my own favorite ingredients and spices and followed her guide.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 small red or orange bell pepper, chopped
• 3 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 6 cups homemade chicken broth or low-sodium store bought
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes with garlic & onions
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with chipotle peppers
• 1 whole green chili, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 8 corn tortillas
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded (1 breast, 1 thigh, 1 leg makes a perfect amount)

Soup Toppings

• light sour cream
• shredded cheddar cheese
• tortillas chips

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-low heat, add onions, celery, and carrots then cook until vegetables soften, 10 minutes.  Add the garlic, cumin and chili powder and cook for up to 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add the chicken broth, tomatoes with their juices, green chili, cilantro, salt and pepper.  Cut the tortillas into 1/2 inch strips and add to the soup.  Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

Add the shredded chicken and check the level of salt & pepper.  Allow the chicken to heat through a few minutes, while you prep the soup toppings assembly line.

If you compare the two soup images here, you'll see the tortillas have completely broken down in the top image.  I freaked the first time I made this, thinking that I had to 'see' the tortillas in the tortilla soup.  But once I had that first spoonful, it made no difference at all.  The flavor of the corn tortillas lives in the broth.

IT'S WONDERFUL!

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

Total Comfort Food Here! A full on meal, made as quickly and as easily as possible.  Every where I could, I trimmed down the fat calorie intake as best as I could.  It's not "fat-free" but "low-fat" and STILL SATISFIES a hungry family.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

For the Chicken

• 1 (3 to 3 1/2 pound) whole chicken
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 small lemon, halved
• 5 to 7 garlic cloves, whole
• 1 small onion, thickly sliced

For the Noodles

• 1 1/2 cups dry egg noodles
• 1 cup chicken stock/broth from drippings
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup No Fat Half and Half (Land O'Lakes)
• salt & pepper
• ground red pepper flakes (for the grown ups' plates)

Blanched Broccoli

• 1 large broccoli crown, cut into large bite size pieces

Starting with the chicken. Preheat the oven to 425ºF degrees.

Prep the lemon, garlic and onion.  Have your spices measured out in small bowls, so you don't contaminate your spice rack.

Remove the chicken parts from the inside that they always give us.  Rinse out the inside of the chicken and remove any excessively fatty pieces.  Pat the outside dry with a paper towel.  Place the chicken in a roasting pan.

Generously salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.  Sprinkle in the dried thyme, stuff with the lemon, garlic.  Give the outside of the chicken a spritz of canola oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Tie the legs together with kitchen string, or not, and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.  Scatter the onion slices around the chicken.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh.  Move to a serving dish and cover with foil.

BEFORE YOU START THE NOODLES

Scoop out 1 cup of broth from the drippings, try to get as much as you can.  If you can't make a cup, you can fill in with water or canned chicken broth.  Put the drippings in the freezer, so the fat can separate and solidify quickly.  Skim off all the fat.

NOW start a large pot of boiling water for blanching the broccoli, then cooking the noodles as directed on the package.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the 1 cup of drippings/broth to a boil.  Pour in No Fat Half and Half, and reduce heat to low just to keep warm.  Do not allow cream sauce to simmer. Think low and slow.

At the same time, blanch the broccoli florets in the boiling water for 2 minutes, scoop out with a slotted spoon and keep warm until noodles are cooked.

Drain off cooked noodles, pour creamy chicken sauce over the noodles and toss.  Allow noodles a few minutes to absorb cream sauce and thicken. Separate chicken while you wait.

Serve it all up family style!

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

Butternut squash, chicken, kidney beans, red bell pepper, tomatoes and corn make up this simple hearty stew.

This recipe is similar to the Butternut Squash Chili recipe I posted last January.  Only this time, I added a couple of roasted chicken breast I had stored in the freezer, a red bell pepper, and made it with half beef broth and half chicken broth.  I don't know if that sounds strange to you, but it was delicious to us.  I was glad that I made a large batch and have plenty to keep us full for a couple of days.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES TO PUT IT TOGETHER

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoon canola oil

Cook in a large pot over medium heat until onion has soften.

• 1 (14.5oz) can tomatoes with garlic & onions
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
• 2 cups cooked kidney beans or 1 (14oz) can
• 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled & cubed to make 1 1/2 cups
• 1 1/2 cups approx. beef broth
• 1 1/2 cups approx. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoon New Mexico Chili pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Simmer the next ingredients from above together for 15 minutes.  First bring it to a boil, then LOWER heat to a simmer.

• 1 cup frozen corn

Add the frozen corn last and cook another 15 minutes.  YOU'RE READY TO EAT!

I JUST WANT TO SAY OUT LOUD:

If you don't have cooked chicken already on hand.  No biggy.  Just do a little rearranging.

Go ahead and chop up two uncooked, skinless, boneless, chicken boobs into 1 1/2 inch pieces and put them in when you add the tomatoes.  Stop there and allow the chicken to cook through until all the pink is gone.  It won't take but 7 to 10 minutes?, depending on how small or large, you cut up the chicken.  Once the chicken is cooked, move on with the rest of the recipe as follows.

Another thing.
About the broths, I said 1 1/2 cups, but I'm really guessimating that number.  I poured them out evenly until there was enough liquid to call it 'stew.' I can tell you that I have two half cartons of each in the frig right now.  So you won't need more than a couple of cans or one carton of each broth.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.