Grilled Chicken Tostadas

My husband, Charlie, bought a new charcoal grill and I have come down with Grilling Fever because of it. It doesn’t help that my friend Bryce from Chilefire.com gave me that grilled pizza cookbook, Grilled Pizzas and Piadinas. You know what they say, “What comes around, goes around.” So, grab a bag of coals, a chimney starter, and your favorite chilled refreshment and let’s go OUTSIDE and PLAY!

Grilling is thought of by many as “too much work.” It’s actually less work. It’s essential that you have everything prepped and ready BEFORE you start cooking. That includes your carrying pans, tongs, oven mitts, as well as, the food. It only takes just a little planning to make it run smoothly and quickly.

It’s been a few years since I’ve worked a charcoal grill. That first time out, I learned the hard way all the steps I did out of order. Working with a chimney starter was brand new to me, as well as the type of hardword lump charcoal I was cooking with. Both made heating up the grill, MUCH MUCH FASTER than I was accustomed to. It didn’t take me long after that, to get the swing of it and get my mojo on. (Can a woman get her mojo on? Or should I just get my groove on?) Anyhoo.

LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED

You could make enough here to feed two adults with leftovers, or four and no leftovers. So, depending on how many you’re serving, use as much toppings and condiments as you need.

The Italian Marinade Blend I posted last week was used again to start these tostadas off right. The great thing about marinading chicken is that it doesn’t take all that long, 30 minutes minimum. Of course, the longer, say 2 hours, the better.

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Italian Marinade Blend
• 1 large orange bell pepper, cut in half, seeds removed
• 1 large onion, cut into 1 inch whole slices
• 1 package of Multigrain flour tortillas
• shredded lettuce
• sour cream
• goat cheese or shredded cheddar or both!
• chopped tomatoes or salsa or both!

For quick and even cooking, place the chicken breasts in a large resealable freezer baggy and pound with a rolling pin, until they’re evenly flat. Leave in the bag and add in the Italian Marinade Blend. Allow to marinate 30 minutes or longer.

Next, prep and set up for assembly the lettuce, tomatoes and dairy toppings. Prep bell pepper and onion in a small bowl, drizzle or lightly spray with an even coat of oil, so they won’t stick to the grill.

HANDY TIP
To keep the onion slices from separating on the grill, use a skewer to hold them together. Or, only cook them on one side; the side that has the small cut so the slices sit inside each other like nesting bowls. Don’t try to flip them, they’ll just come apart and fall through the grill rack. Trust me.

You’ll need a cookie sheet, long tongs, an oven mitt, a lighter, a couple of sheet of newspaper, hardwood charcoal, chimney starter and a charcoal grill.

Watch this video on using a chimney starter. I will never ever start a grill without one.

When you can hold your hand about 6 inches above the grill and count to five WITHOUT burning yourself, it’s time to cook. Look for the hottest and coolest areas of the grill before starting. Put the chicken on the hottest area and run the bell pepper and onion around the hot edges. Since the chicken is around 1 inch in thickness or less, it should only take 4 minutes on each side to cook through. Make a test cut on the thickest piece and check that there is no pink before removing from heat.

Allow bell pepper skins to turn black. Discard the skins after they’ve cooled and dice the pepper. The onions only need to become softened, then they’re ready. Pull everything off the grill onto your cookie sheet. Slice up the chicken for topping tortillas and set aside.

GRILLING TORTILLAS

Depending on the heat of the grill, it could 30 seconds on each side or it could take 60 seconds. You’re on your own here. But I will show you what to look for when the tortillas are ready.

TOO LONG (makes the tortilla dry & brittle like a cracker)

NOT QUITE LONG ENOUGH (tortilla is soft for folding)

JUST RIGHT (It’s crispy and strong with flavor!)

Let’s see them assembled, shall we?

NOW GO OUTSIDE AND GRILL!

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