Simple Steak Kabobs

These steak kabobs we made last night were heavenly and so simple to throw together too! Definitely going to be on our regular rotation. I might even have to throw my snow boots on in the winter to grill outside in the dead of winter. It will be worth it though! Use whatever veggies you have on hand. We did zucchini, red onion and mushrooms.

Steak Kabobs

Marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

Veggies (Choose what you like!)

summer squash

zucchini

red onion

mushrooms

anything!

Thick cuts of steak, cubed (I used petite sirloin and some tenderloin I had)

Marinade the steak for 1 hour in a large ziplock bag. Cube up your veggies and add them to the steak bag and marinade 1 more hour. Grill on a preheated grill (about 350-400 degrees) for 5 minutes. Flip over and grill 3-5 more minutes. Enjoy!

Serve with some cauliflower rice for added nutrition! Separate a head of cauliflower and blend batches using a food processor (you could probably use a blender too). Heat up a large skillet over medium heat and heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil or coconut butter. Throw the cauliflower "rice" into the skillet and saute for 5 or so minutes. Flavor with lots of salt and pepper. My family likes minced garlic and green onions in ours. I just saute those quickly before adding the "rice".

Teriyaki Grilled Salmon

My Mom has been making this grilled salmon for years and years and years, but she always sprinkles hers with lemon pepper seasoning before. I decided to ditch the lemon pepper seasoning, and add some sesame seeds and it has now become one of my family's favorites. You can even reduce the marinade over the stove if you'd like for some drizzle. Soooo yummy!

Teriyaki Grilled Salmon

Salmon Fillets (as many as you need)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil (or you could use vegetable oil)

Mix the brown sugar, soy sauce, water and olive oil together and pour over the salmon in either a bowl or a big zip-lock bag. I like a big zip-lock because it's easy to flip in the fridge. Marinade for at least 4 hours. When you are ready to cook, preheat the grill to medium high heat (if you have a temperature dial set it to about 350) When the grill is heated, throw down a piece of tinfoil and spray with nonstick spray. Put your salmon fillets on the foil. Grill about 4 minutes and then flip, pour some of the marinade over and grill another 4-6 minutes until it's done to your liking. Remove from the grill and serve with sesame seeds if desired.

Chili Lime Steak

I have been looking for new recipes, and this one was a winner! I served mine Mexican style with fresh cooked tortillas, pico de gallo and guacamole, but the steak had amazing flavor all alone and would be outstanding by itself or in a salad! Definitely going to be baking this one time and time again! :) 

Chili Lime Steak
Recipe slightly adapted from Our Best Bites

1-2 pounds flank steak (boneless)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper 
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lime, juiced (about 2 Tbsp juice)
1 Tbsp olive oil

To make the rub, combine the spices in a small bowl and add the lime juice and olive oil. Stir to combine. Place the steak in a shallow dish (like a 9X13). Pour the spice mixture over the steak and then use your hands to rub it in. Let the steak stand for 15 minutes. While the meat is standing, preheat your grill. Place the steak on the grill over medium-high heat and cook for 5-7 minutes per side or until desired doneness is reached. (I recommend flipping at 5 minutes, and then checking at the next 5 minute mark) Remove from grill and allow to stand for 5 minutes before slicing. Slice the steak against the grain into strips about 1/4 inch thick. 

Note: If you are pressed for time, you can make the rub ahead of time. I rubbed mine on the steak and left it in the fridge all day, but you don't have to do that. If you do refrigerate it, just make sure you let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or so.

Chicken and Bacon Shish Kabobs

I just posted these on my other cooking blog that my sisters and I share, but I couldn't resist double posting them just because they are absolutely divine! And best of all- dairy free!! :)

Oh my goodness these are heaven! The bacon makes the chicken so moist and tender. If you have done kabobs before you know that sometimes the meat can be dry, but not these beauties, and it's because of the bacon (so don't skip that step!) My daughter who is the pickiest eater on the planet even eats them up! I have been doing pineapple, mushrooms and bell peppers, but you can really use anything you like, that's what makes skewers/kabobs so much fun. This is definitely going to be a summer favorite! I have already made them 3 times in 2 weeks, 2 of the times for big parties. Also I use turkey bacon because it's what our family likes.

Chicken and Bacon Shish Kabobs

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Mine made 8-10 big skewers

 

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp canola oil

10 large mushrooms, cut in half

2 green onions, minced

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

1/2 pound turkey bacon slices, cut in half lengthwise (or regular bacon)
canned pineapple

2 bell peppers, any variety

skewers (if you use wooden be sure to soak them in water at least 20 minutes)

In a large bowl, mix the soy sauce, cider vinegar, honey, canola oil and green onions. Place the mushrooms and chicken each into a bowl or a ziplock and pour the mixture over, and stir to coat. You can marinade them together, but I found it to be a pain when you are picking through to skewer them; it's easier to separate them. Cover and marinate in the fridge at least 1 hour, 2 or 3 is better. Preheat grill for high heat. Remove the mushrooms and chicken from the marinade and shake off excess. (I just strained them over a saucepan). Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes; set aside.
Wrap the chicken chunks with bacon, and thread onto skewers so that the bacon is secured. Alternate with mushroom halves, bell peppers and pineapple chunks. Lightly oil the grill and arrange skewers. Cook about 7 minutes, brush with some of the remaining soy sauce mixture, flip them over and brush again. Grill about 7 more minutes. Done when bacon is crisp and chicken juices run clear.

Lemon Lime Chicken

It's grillin time again! This chicken was super yummy! I made some skillet potatoes to serve with it and it was a huge hit. The sweet and non-spicy flavor makes it a big kid pleaser. My kids had seconds and thirds :)

Lemon-Lime Chicken

Recipe from Taste of Home Backyard Grilling

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 Tbsp lemon juice

3 Tbsp lime juice

3 Tbsp Dijon mustard

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag. Combine remaining ingredients; pour over chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain, discarding marinade. Grill chicken over medium-hot heat, turning once, until juices run clear, about 15-18 minutes.

Barbecued Burgers

(Updated from 2009)
I love these burgers! They are so juicy and yummy! It does take extra time to make the barbecue from scratch, but it's super yummy, sweet and tangy. Please don't ruin it with any other condiments like mayonnaise or mustard. (but ultimately it's your choice I guess lol) I like mine with a tomato, maybe some lettuce, and extra barbecue sauce drizzled on top. If you end up with extra barbecue sauce you can make a barbecue chicken pizza or squirt chicken.

Barbecued Burgers
Makes 6 burgers

Recipe from Taste of Home Backyard Grilling

Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup molasses

2 tsp mustard

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp liquid smoke

1/8 tsp pepper

Burgers:

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup oats

1/4 tsp onion salt

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

6 hamburger buns

choice of toppings

In a small saucepan, combine the first 10 ingredients (sauce) and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside 1 cup barbecue sauce to serve with burgers. In a bowl combine egg, oats, 1/4 cup remaining barbecue sauce, onion salt, garlic salt, and salt and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 6 patties and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (this ensures that they will stay together on the grill) but you can skip this step if you need to. Grill covered, over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees, basting with the remaining 1/2 cup barbecue sauce during the last 5 minutes. (I baste before flipping, so I put it on top the burgers, flip them over and then baste again on top and grill until they are done). Serve on buns with toppings and reserved sauce.

Pineapple Grilled Chicken

My sisters and I have a cooking blog we share called www.foursisterskitchens.blogspot.com It's not dairy free, but there are some recipes like this one that are. My Mom posted this last week and she raved over how yummy and tender the chicken was. Don't mind the picture, it was with her cellphone :)

Pineapple Grilled Chicken
Recipe from Melody @ foursisterskitchens


One pineapple
2 skinless chicken breasts


Cut the top and the bottom off of the pineapple then cut down the sides and set aside the rest (keeping the sides) Take your skinless chicken breasts and flatten between some plastic wrap with a mallet until they are about an inch thick. Season them to taste, whatever you like- salt, pepper, allspice, etc. Now sandwich each chicken breast between the pineapple sides and tie together with cooking thread (or something that won't catch on fire on the grill). Place them on a hot grill and cook on medium for about 15 minutes per side. You can even scoop out some of the cooked pineapple after and serve it on top. 

Sliced Skirt Steaks with Rice and Beans

This was heaven. I've had the recipe sitting on my cute cook book holder all week and have been so excited to make it. It took 4 stores to find skirt steak, but I'm glad I didn't settle for anything else. I was scared to ruin the steaks since they are so thin....you can see I cooked mine to medium, but they would taste even better with some pink or red in the center. So so so delish, especially with the rice and cilantro.

 

Sliced Skirt Steaks with Rice and Beans

Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray

Serves 4

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup white rice

4 green onions, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained

4-5 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp hot sauce

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp mustard

1/2 tsp of each- garlic powder

                           chili powder

                           red pepper

                           salt

                           parsley
1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2-2 pounds skirt steak

2 jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded

2 ripe avocados

a handful of chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

2 limes

Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the rice and bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat, and cook for about 12 minutes over low to medium-low heat. Stir in the green onions and black beans, replace the lid, and cook for 6 more minutes.

In a shallow dish, combine the hot sauce, Worcestershire, mustard, 3 Tbsp olive oil and the seasonings. Coat the steak and marinate for 10 minutes. Heat outdoor grill to medium-high.

Brush the jalapenos with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the meat and jalapeno on the grill and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side (I cooked mine 5 and it was a little much). After you turn the meat and jalapeno, halve and pit the avocados and place them on the grill to char and mark. Remove meat, jalapenos and avocados to a platter and let the meat rest for a few minutes, tented with foil, to settle the juices.

To serve, thinly slice the steak on an angle. Divide the steak slices among 4 plates. Serve with an avocado half, a jalapeno half, a sprinkle of cilantro and some halved tomatoes. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime over each dish. Serve the black beans and rice alongside.

Curry Grilled Chicken

This chicken is sweet, tender and tasty and the leftovers are perfect to have cut up on a salad the next day. Don't let the curry scare you off if you are like me and not a big fan of curry flavor. That's just one of the 10 spices so it doesn't over power it at all.

Curry Grilled Chicken
Recipe from Nancy Ode

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 pounds)

In a food processor combine the first 10 ingredients until blended. Pour into a large resealable plastic bag; add the chicken and turn to coat. Seal and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Drain and discard marinade. Grill the chicken, covered, over medium heat for 6 minutes on each side or until the juices run clear.

Basil Orange Chicken

One of my all time favorite herbs is basil, so I'll usually try any recipe that contains it. I've tried a lot of recipes with citrus juices combined with herbs and haven't been a fan at all! Finally I found a really great recipe to use up my basil! This recipe is so light and the flavors are so refreshing, it's perfect for summer time! The chicken doesn't really need the extra sauce to drizzle over it, but it's a really fun twist to have over the rice and veggies. I also put some of the citrus slices in our water pitcher and I've never seen my kids drink so much water!

Basil Orange Chicken

1 large navel orange (1 1/2 tsp peel, 4 Tbsp juice)
2 lemons (1 1/2 tsp peel, 1/3 cup juice)
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
salt
pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
4 boneless skinless breast halves
1/2 tsp sugar
grilled orange and lemon slices for garnish
Serve with couscous or rice and sugar snap peas

Citrus Mixture:
In a medium bowl combine 1 tsp orange peel, 1 tsp lemon peel, 1 Tbsp orange juice, 1/4 cup basil, 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1/4 tsp salt and pepper.
With a mallet pound chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness. Rub citrus mixture onto chicken, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate up to 8 hours.

In a bowl or pitcher, combine 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/8 tsp each salt and pepper, 1/2 tsp orange peel, 1/2 tsp lemon peel, 3 Tbsp orange juice, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup basil and 1 Tbsp olive oil. (If making ahead of time, cover and refrigerate until ready)

Heat grill to medium high heat. Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes. Turn over and grill 3-4 more minutes until no longer pink. Serve with couscous or rice and veggies and drizzle sauce all over. Garnish with citrus slices.

Barbecued Alaskan Salmon

Does this juicy salmon look like it melts in your mouth or what!? I love love love salmon and I'm always looking for new ways to cook it. The best thing about this recipe is that you don't need to prep early and marinate for hours. Just start up your grill and make the sauce while it's heating up. Not too overpouring, but just enough flavor to really melt in your mouth.

Barbecued Alaskan Salmon
Recipe from Janis Smoke

2 Tbsp butter, or dairy free butter or margarine
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
2-4 salmon steaks

In a small saucepan, combine the first six ingredients. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Meanwhile, grill salmon, covered, over medium-hot heat for 5 min. Turn salmon and baste with the sauce. Grill 5-9 more minutes longer, turning and basting occasionally, until the salmon flakes easily with a fork.

Succulent Steak

I made this steak last night for my husband's birthday, and I couldn't even wait a few days to post it. I'm not a huge steak lover so I usually end up pouring steak sauce over the steak. This steak doesn't need any sauce because the flavor is amazing and it's so tender!  I used petite sirloin steak (figured it was still cheaper than going out to eat for his birthday) and grilled them over medium heat for 6  minutes per side. Perfect to make for father's day!

Succulent Steak Marinade

Recipe from Melanie @ mykitchencafe

1 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup pineapple juice

3 garlic cloves crushed or finely minced


Combine all ingredients thoroughly and use as marinade. If marinading steaks, I marinade the meat overnight (about 12-14 hours) before grilling.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza (on the grill)

Making pizza has been a tradition of ours for years, and as newlyweds we use to make it in the dutch oven every time we went camping. (now with kids those camp trips are getting fewer) That has always been my favorite method for baking pizza for the obvious reason- everything tastes better in a dutch oven! We decided to try something new and bake the pizza on the grill this time. You can bake this pizza in the oven, but if you want to try something new and don't want to heat up your oven to 450 degrees, try it on the grill! (Just read my warning notes :) For this barbecued chicken I used canned chicken and leftover barbecue sauce from barbecued burgers, so it was really simple and easy. That barbecue sauce is so perfect for pizza because it's tangy and sweet. (My stomach is seriously growling just typing about it)

Basic Pizza Dough

Recipe from Weight Watchers New Comblete Cookbook

Makes 2 12 inch pizza crusts

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp sugar

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1 Tbsp olive oil

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

In a large mixing bowl, combine the water and sugar. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the oil. Combine the flour and salt and add to the yeast one cup at a time until the dough starts to pull from the sides of bowl. Knead until smooth and elastic. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray (you can use the mixing bowl); put the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or damp cloth. Let rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, then cut in half for two 12 inch pizzas, or thirds for 3 smaller pizzas. Use, refriderate or freeze in floured zip-close freezer bags for later.

For each (12 inch) Pizza:

3/4 cups barbecue sauce (I used this one)

1 cup canned chicken or cooked and cut up chicken breasts

3 Tbsp green onions, sliced horizontally

1/3 cup mozzarella cheese (optional)

Put the pizza dough above on a greased pizza pan. Grill the pizza crust for 5 minutes in a medium heat grill covered. Take the pizza out and spread with 1/2 cup barbecue sauce. Spread out chicken evenly and then top with onions and mozzarella (if using). Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce over the top. Grill covered for 5 more minutes.

*Warning- the first time I took the pizza off the pan and set it directly on the grill and toasted it black! The perfect way is to take the pizza off the pan at 4 minutes, set it directly on the grill and keep the lid open for about 1-2 min. Then you can slide it back onto the pan to cut it up.

To bake the pizza in the oven just preheat it to 450 and then bake it for 10-12 minutes. You can also take it out and set it directly on the rack the last few minutes to make it crispy.