Jalapeno & Strawberry Chicken Salad with a Balsamic Lime Vinaigrette

So it's down to the last few days of the month and unfortunately I have almost ran out of my budgeted lunch money! My husband and I are both in the Finance/ Accounting world and we monitor our finances and budgets pretty closely. We set up realistic budgets where we can live comfortably, but monitor them so that we don't accidentally spend $7,000 on lunches for the month. I bet most people would agree that a majority of your disposable income  (excluding any fixed payments) goes to food and alcohol (well maybe the latter is just us), and monitoring our spending in this category helps us save up for the wonderful vacations we go on!

So since we didn't have much left in our lunch budgets, I grilled up a few chicken breasts on Monday to make a healthy chicken salad for a few lunches this week.

Although I cooked the chicken on Monday, I was torn about how I wanted to make the salad. Different combinations went through my head. Black bean and grilled corn was on the list, but also required a little more prep. Then this morning I was scrolling through my Bloglovin newsfeed and saw a post about Strawberry Jalapeno Margaritas, and I was sold. I could easily throw together this chicken salad in less than 15 minutes and be out the door for work with a healthy and filling lunch!

I'll give you the run-down on the ingredients- no measurements here, just add the ingredients to your liking! Looking back on my recipe, I believe I gained inspiration from those delicious salads with strawberries and a balsamic vinaigrette.

Instructions:
Grill chicken with salt and pepper and tear chicken into bit sized pieces. Add minced jalapeno, red onion, cilantro and sliced strawberries. Prepare a simple balsamic vinaigrette by combining, 1 part vinegar, 1/2 part olive oil and 1 part lime juice. Pour over salad and combine well. Adjust seasonings to your liking.

Serve with romaine lettuce wraps or crackers.

And there you go- pretty simple, healthy and satisfying! I ate my lunch on the steps of the Chicago Art Museum today and it was heavenly! Wish this beautiful weather would have shown itself last weekend! Instead it was cold and in the 60's.  Why do I live here again? I guess that could very well be a doctoral dissertation.

What did you guys eat over Memorial Day? Did you do any unique alternatives to the classic Memorial Day dishes?

Teriyaki Burgers with Grilled Pineapple and Red Onions

Greetings from Cincinnati! Or, more aptly, Owensville, Ohio, where Mary and myself hail from. My husband and I are in town for the week after spending the past weekend in Cleveland for a wedding. The bride was my very first friend in college and the wedding was just gorgeous! I had such a great time that I sprained my foot while dancing and I've spent the past few days limping around, thanking my lucky stars that I'm not back home in Brooklyn where my busted foot would be the equivalent of a flat tire.

The weather in Cincinnati has been gorgeous and Steve and I (as well as Charlie) have had a great week relaxing, enjoying the sunshine and the fresh air. My parents live in the middle of a hundred-acre wood, so although their lack of Internet has made this post extremely difficult to accomplish (I'm using an iPad right now), the break from all the hullabaloo has been very welcomed. And while there are so many different things I want to share with you, dear readers, I think I'm just going to jump right in and share my culinary adventure from this week. 

We started our week here with a trip to the famed Jungle Jim's to pick up some international goodies to bring back home to Brooklyn because, although we live amongst a swarm of various cultures and their accompanying cultural markets, these still don't compare to Jungle Jim's. If you live in Cincinnati and you're yet to check it out, run, don't walk!, there right now. I'd recommend the Eastgate location because not only is it newer and thus better organized, they also have a few speciality markets at the entrance such as Flying Olive and Colonel De's Spice Market that are worth a browse. 

We decided we wanted to make dinner for my folks each night we were in town, and because the weather was so great we decided to kick off the week with a grilling adventure. We haven't yet had the time to pull out our own grill for the season, which made this opportunity all the more inviting. We settled on grilling some burgers but we wanted to add an adventurous twist in order to impress the fam with our culinary talents, so Steve came up with the idea of adding grilled pineapple and caramelized red onion seasoned with teriyaki sauce. I've never had pineapple on a burger before, and I must say grilled pineapple is now amongst my most favorite fruit.  It's so yummy! And the grilled sweetness really adds a unique flavor combination to the burger meat and teriyaki sauce. The only change I'd make to these burgers is I'd like to try them on the "Three Meal Muffin" instead of onion rolls because, as I stated in my turkey burger post, they're simply the best burger bun out there. 

1. Prepare the burger meat by seasoning it with salt, pepper, some minced garlic, and a dash or two of teriyaki sauce. Divide and form into patties. Set aside until the grill is hot and ready. 

2. Prepare additional ingredients. Remove the pineapple rind and slice into rings. I cut them thick, but you can cut them to your preferred thickness depending on if you want a little less or little more pineapple flavor. Also slice the red onion. My knife was dull so I didn't cut perfect rings, but they still worked out just fine. After slicing the onion, we created a foil pouch for them to cook in on the grill, and seasoned with a dash of teriyaki. 

After your ingredients are prepared and your grill is hot, toss everything on and grill to your standards of perfection! We also grilled a side of brussel sprouts and asparagus, both of which we just lightly seasoned with a little EVOO and a dash of salt and pepper. 

And did I mention that this dish is a great way to impress your family and friends this weekend at your Memorial Day barbecue?! Because it is! 

Finally, here is a picture of my husband and I from the wedding last weekend. :)

Beef Kebabs with a Whiskey Soy Marinade

We had our first taste of summer this week where temperatures hit 80 degrees! In the winter, Chicagoans suffer for months on end, repeating to ourselves "Why do we live here?!", and then we get a small taste of summer and completely forgive and forget that we were forced into hibernation for the last 5 months! One day of 80 degrees and we are all like, "This is the greatest city in THE WORLD!"

So in honor of our beautiful weather this week, here are some of the signs of summer I encountered:

1) The tulips on State Street bloomed on Monday. Nature is just so amazing to me, just two months ago there was no sign of life anywhere and then come April and small pops of green push through the hard Earth and bring life where it was nowhere to be found.

2) Yesterday was the first time I biked to work (is that hipster, Maegan?) and it was the most relaxing and peaceful commute I have ever experienced. I only live three miles from work and Chicago has a lake-front path for pedestrians only. The cool breeze rolling off the lake, sun shining in my face and hundreds of other people making their commute via  motor-less transportation, makes you think that life can't get much better!

3) Annnd my food post of the day! Did anyone else catch that Kenny Chesney line? "And one by one we slide from reality, with nowhere to go, and nowhere to be". I've been channeling my inner sailor/pirate the last month, wishing my summer vacations would come quicker!

Beef Kebabs with a Whiskey Soy Marinade

Marinade

1/4 cup whiskey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup worcheshire sauce

2 tbls olive oil

2 tbls cider vinegar

2 tbls black peppercorns

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground mustard powder

shaking of red chili flakes

handful of chopped cilantro

1/2 lemon

Allow beef to marinade in the refrigerator for a couple hours, obviously the longer it marinades, the more flavor you will get. Use whatever vegetables you have in the house. I use whole mushrooms, red bell pepper and red onion. I'd recommend using a sirloin or another tender form of beef.

The marinade was so delicious! The bitter whiskey was cut by the sweetness in the soy sauce, and the cracked black peppercorns gave the meat the perfect bite!

We enjoyed this meal on our patio while drinking a cold beer and watching the sun set. Oh summer how we love thee!

Hope the weather is treating you as good! Be sure to follow us by email or by bloglovin', it's a great site where you can connect with other blogs of your interest!

<3
Mary

Chicken & Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Even us food bloggers eat boring dishes like chicken and broccoli on occasion. But last night we were sitting on the couch thinking about how we should prepare the chicken. I was pretty bummed because I thought BBQ chicken on the grill sounded amazing, but we didn't have any BBQ sauce in the house.

Then I thought- Hey! I probably have all the ingredients to make a BBQ sauce in my cupboard and refrigerator, and that's exactly how I took this boring chicken and broccoli dish to a delicious and perfectly delightful dish.

We were waiting on a baked potato to cook, so I had about 45 minutes to spare once I decided to make the BBQ sauce, granted I could have walked the one block to the grocery store and pick up a bottle of BBQ, but then I would have had to walk down and back up four floors. Making it in-house ended up being cheaper anyway!

The basic ingredients to a tomato-based BBQ sauce are: ketchup, vinegar, worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Then you can add any spices you desire, typically chile powder, ground mustard and some form of heat: cayenne pepper, tabasco sauce or jalepaneos.

Barbecue Sauce
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup vinegar (i used white wine)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
2 tbls chile powder
1 1/2 tbls mustard
1/2 tbls ground ginger
1/2 tbls ground white onion
Cayenne pepper to taste
2 tbls olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow flavors to meld, stir occasionally for 5 minutes. Serve extra sauce in a ramekin for dipping.


This was the first homemade BBQ sauce I have made, and I'm sure with the summer coming up, we will add a few more varieties for your reading pleasure :)

Oh and here is a random picture of my dear Grandma at the new casino in Cincinnati. Is she not the cutest?!

Hope you have a great weekend!!

<3
Mary

Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms Burger with melted Gouda & Garlic Dill Aoili

Well Spring is officially here is Chicago, however it is not what we had dreamed about all Winter. It hasn't stopped raining all week and we haven't seen much of that thing called the Sun! Thankfully though, I will be able to skip out on this weather for a long weekend in Vegas with my best girlfriends.

A few weeks back I made THE BEST burger, I have had in our kitchen. We go to a lot of specialty burger places such as Butcher and the Burge, Kuma's & Burger Bar, but I hadn't made a gourmet burger in my house until this baby!

We use a simple seasoning on our burgers, just salt and pepper. Grilled to a perfect medium, couple slices of melted Gouda, placed on a toasted sesame bun with caramelized onions and mushrooms, arugula, slice of tomato and my garlic dill aoili.

To caramelize the onions and mushrooms will take about 15 minutes, maybe more. While my husband was preparing the burgers, I started chopping the veggies we would need for the burger.

Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms
1/2 to 1 medium onion
1/2 package of mushrooms
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Slice the onions and mushrooms and place in a large skillet  with a good portion of oil. Heat should be at medium to high. Be sure to find the right temperature to allow the onions and mushrooms to cook slowly and gradually turn a deep golden brown color.  Cook for probably 5 minutes longer than the picture below:

Garlic Dill Aoili

2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp garlic powder (more or less depending on desired flavor)
1 tbls or more of chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Cayenne pepper to taste

Add ingredients in a small bowl and combine well. Add more of less of each ingredient based on your tastes. The texture should be rather liquidy due to the lemon juice. I prefer to use a lot of lemon juice as to make the sauce lighter and less thick. Add enough garlic and garlic powder so that you can definitely taste the garlic flavor.  I had dill in the house so I thought that would be a nice fresh addition as well.

Once I was finished with the garlic dill aoli, I still felt that it was a little heavy for my tastes, so I added a bit of cayenne pepper to cut the savoriness of the sauce.





Hope you guys are having a great day!!

Mary

Turkey Burgers

I'm knocking on wood as I say this... but, the past few days in Brooklyn have been sunny and in the 50s, which has me dreaming of flowers, spring dresses, and my GRILL! 

While it's not quite yet warm enough for backyard cookouts, this past Sunday I still opted for a yummy reminder of warmer months--burgers!--and just substituted the stove for the barbecue. Although I am a huge fan of red meat, I decided to use turkey for these burgers because not only is turkey much leaner than beef, it's also more of a brain food--and after the all-nighter I pulled this weekend, my brain needed all the help it could get before Monday morning!

Directions:
1 lb ground turkey
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3-4 spring onions, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Chipotle and lime aioli

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, carrots, onion, and garlic. If spring onions aren't available at your local market, substitute a medium-sized red onion, diced. Because I am a huge fan of spice, I also added a dash of fire sauce that my friend gifted me after her trip to the Bahamas. Divide the meat mixture into fourths and shape into patties.

Next, heat about a teaspoon of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the burgers on both sides, and then transfer to the oven. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through, about 165°F. 

Of course if you are luckier than me and do have access to your grill, you could always just toss these babies onto the grill for about 7 minutes on each side or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.

While the burgers finish cooking, prepare the buns for assembling. I like to use "The 3 Meal Muffin"  from Central Bakery. However, if these aren't available in your local market, you could substitute English muffins or just regular old hamburger buns. I also topped my burgers with some spring mix, a slice of muenster cheese, and the fresh chipotle lime aioli that Mary posted last week. If I had an avocado in the house, I would have added a slice or two as well. 

Finally, keeping with the spirit of spring, I'd pair this dish with those delicious coriander pickles Mary posted yesterday. Check them out! And, ENJOY!!