Laura’s Spice-rubbed Chicken Breasts

Laura’s husband proclaimed these the most tender and juicy chicken breasts ever! Give them a try tonight. The nutrition facts were created at Calorie Count, the best free website to count your calories!

Laura’s Spice-rubbed Chicken Breasts

4 servings

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black or red pepper (depending on how spicy you want it!)

1/4 tsp ground allspice

Directions:

Slice chicken breasts horizontally across the middle to create 2 thinner halves. One at a time, cover each half with plastic wrap and pound to an even thickness with a meat mallet.

Rub each piece with olive oil.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and spices. Rub the mixture over both sides of each piece of chicken.  A thin plastic gloves makes this a tidy operation.

Grill each side for 2 minutes over medium heat.* Let rest for five minutes.

*Alternative cooking method: On the stove-top, heat 1 tbsp. canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Brown a few minutes on both sides until the juices run clear. Allow to set covered with foil for five minutes.

Suchit's Thai Marinade for Grilled Chicken

My friend Suchit is from Thailand. She says that, for the Thai people, the first choice for the cilantro in this dish would be to use cilantro roots instead of stems. But, since that is not always available where she lives now, she makes this delicious marinade with cilantro stems. Do not use the cilantro leaves, save those for making the dipping sauce (link below).

The nutrition facts for the marinade were created at Calorie Count.

Thai Marinade for Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts or 8 thighs

One batch marinade

Marinade Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce, low sodium
1/4 cup cilantro stems or roots* (no leaves)
2 T garlic, minced
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Optional: 1 T ginger, sliced and smashed

Directions:

Add the marinade ingredients to a large zip lock bag.

Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel (do not rinse chicken) and add to the marinade, remove air, seal and refrigerate for anywhere from 4 hours to overnight.

Remove the bag from the refrigerator and heat coals on a grill. Remove the chicken from the bag and discard the marinade. Grill the chicken until the juices run clear - turn frequently.

Serve with Thai Dipping Sauce and enjoy mindfully with a skewer of grilled veggies and a bit of lovely brown basmati rice.

Marie’s Grilled Butternut Squash

Marie decided to experiment with her grill the other day and the result was pure deliciousness. Her family loved it and so will yours! The nutrition facts were designed at Calorie Count.

Marie’s Grilled Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

1 Butternut Squash
2 T Vegetable Oil
1/8 Salt, or to taste

¼ t black Pepper, or to taste
1 t Chili Powder, or to taste

1 t Garlic Powder, to taste
1 tsp local honey, or to taste and totally optional

Directions:

Rinse and slice a bit off the large end of the squash. Remove seeds with a spoon. Peeling is optional – the skin grills up tender and tasty. Slice the squash into ½ inch thick rings (or halves if you like) and put in baggie with everything except the honey - shake until well coated, adjust the liquid if there is not enough to coat all the squash.

Grill on hot grill for approx. 10 minutes. Brush with honey while cooking.

skil829757939's Easy Weekday Ribs

This is a fantastic idea for getting a normally time consuming meal on the table fast - even if you've been at work all day! Many thanks to skil829757939, one of the awesome people at Calorie Count! Here's the nutrition facts for pork ribs.

Easy Weekday Ribs

Ingredients:

Ribs

Water

BBQ Sauce

Slow Cooker

Grill

Directions:

Put your ribs in water in the slow cooker in the morning on low.

Throw them on the BBQ for 5 minutes with your preferred BBQ sauce when you get home.

Voila!Done!

SarahR's Grilled Peaches

Nothing ends a summer meal quite so beautifully as grilled and basted fruit. My thanks to SarahR for this elegant low calorie dessert recipe!

The nutrition facts were created with the tools at Calorie Count.

Grilled Peaches

Ingredients:

6 fresh peaches, cut in half, seed removed

6t T honey

dried thyme

6 T creme fraiche or mascarpone

Directions:

Preheat a grill to medium-high.

Place the peaches cut side down onto the grill and cook until lightly charred, 2 to 3 minutes, depending on your grill the length of time this will take make be different.

Transfer the peaches, cut sides up, to a grill-proof baking dish or baking sheet.

Drizzle evenly with the honey and sprinkle with thyme.

Place the dish on the grill and grill covered until the peaches are soft - about 5 minutes, again depending on the grill.

Remove the baking dish from the grill and divide the peach halves between 6 dessert plates. Top the peaches with a dollop of mascarpone or creme fraiche. If you can afford the calories, drizzle with additional honey.

Serve and enjoy immediately.

Janice's Grilled Rum Basted Pineapple Kabobs

A terrific dessert kebab suitable for company with only 116 calories. Serve alone or with a scoop of ice cream!

Try it with tequila if you don't have a good dark rum (Mount Gay Dark is perfect).

The nutrition facts can be found at Calorie Count! 

Grilled Rum Basted Pineapple Kabobs

Makes 8 Servings

Ingredients: 

1 pineapple - Slice off the pineapple's top and bottom with a large very sharp knife, stand the pineapple upright and slice off the lumpy skin (you don't have to get every little bit of brown skin bits, but get most of it - this seems wasteful, but no worries, there will be plenty remaining), cut the remaining cylinder vertically into 8 wedges, remove the bit of core on each long wedge, and then cut each long slice into fourths.
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice 

Directions:

Preheat grill.

Mix rum, brown sugar, honey, and orange juice together until sugar dissolves.

Thread pineapple slices onto skewers. Grill for about 10 minutes, turning & basting with rum sauce several times. 

Remove from heat, plate on a serving tray, and serve.

Optional:

If you don't want to make these into kabobs, all you have to do is slice off the peel, slice into rounds approximately 3/4 of an inch thick, remove the small circle of a core with a small knife (or leave it in, some people love the woody core), baste the rounds, and grill.

Or, rather than being so precise in your cutting in order to thread them onto skewers, just cut the thing into approximately 2 inch chunks in whatever manner you choose once the skin is off.

The number of wedges you cut the pineapple into doesn't really matter, what is important is that the pieces are large enough to skewer. I cut one pineapple that was not quite as large as normal and it was best cut into six wedges. If you like your pieces larger, cut into four wedges and allow a minute or two longer to grill.

Sharpshootinstar's Grilled Hawaiian Steak

This is a traditional party food with Sharpshootingstar’s family. Everyone loves it and it is the first thing to go.

The nutrition facts for this recipe are at Calorie Count!

Grilled Hawaiian Steak

Ingredients:

6 pounds top round

1 c olive oil

1 cup soy sauce

½ cup pineapple juice

2 cloves minced garlic

1 small minced onion

1 t ginger

Directions:

Have the butcher slice the steak very thin – somewhere between a fajita steak and paper is ideal.

In a large bowl, combine the oil, soy sauce, juice, garlic, onion, and ginger.

Add the sliced steak, making sure each slice is evenly coated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

When ready to cook, remove the steak from the marinade and grill on a hot grill for just a couple minutes per side or until it is done as you like.

Banderabarb's Grilled Avocado

The nutrition facts for this wonderful addition to your grilled meal can be found at Calorie Count!

Grilled Avocado

Ingredients:

1 large avocado - not too soft
1 t lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1 t oil (use your favorite)
1/2 cup salsa
1/8 cup cheese (use your favorite kind)

Directions:

Peel avocado and cut in half (you may find it easier to cut in half and remove the seed before peeling, so use the method that works best for you).

Remove seed with a small spoon.

Rub all surfaces with lemon juice and then cooking oil.

Put on the grill cut side down. close the lid. Grill for only 2 or 3 minutes - how long depends on the ripeness of your avocado.

Turn avacado over. Fill seed cavity with your favorite salsa, top with grated cheese.

Close grill and heat until cheese melts.

Notes:

You may want to use one of those great veggie grill racks to contain your avocado and make it easier to flip!

Susan D.'s Baked or Grilled Vidalias

Vidalias are in the store, but they won't last long. Try Susan's favorite ways to fix this healthy treat.

The nutrition facts are on Calorie Count!

Vidalia Onions

Baked or Grilled Vidalias

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1 Vidalia Onion
1 bouillon cube or 1 t bouillon powder
1 pat of butter

Directions:

Peal the onion, and cut an X across the top, not quite cutting all the way through, just to open the center a bit. Place a bouillion cube and a dab of butter (or butter substitute) in the center. Wrap tightly in foil. 

Cook either on the grill or in the oven at 425 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or until tender. 

Notes:

Yum! Eat them often and fast before the supply is gone!

Meganr's Orzo with Grilled Asparagus and Feta

This quick and easy vegetarian dish will soon become one of your standard meals. Try it tonight!

The nutrition facts for this delicious meal can be found at Calorie Count! 

Orzo with Grilled Asparagus and Feta 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 cups asparagus, washed and well drained with woody ends trimmed and cut into 1 ½ inch lengths

6 oz feta cheese

2 T olive oil

1 T mustard, preferably spicy brown

6 cloves garlic

2 T lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 t lemon zest

5 cups orzo pasta equivalent to one 12 oz package

Directions:

Prepare the grill for the asparagus.

Start water for the orzo so that it comes to a boil when the grill is ready.

Make the marinade for the asparagus by putting the lemon zest and garlic in a mini-blender and chop until fine. Add mustard and lemon juice and blend again. Add the olive oil and blend well. Add the marinade to the asparagus in a zip lock bag or tightly covered bowl making sure all pieces are well coated and set aside.

Add orzo to the boiling water and set the timer so you can test for al dente-ness.

Put the asparagus on the grill, turn and stir so it doesn’t burn. Depending upon how fast your grill cooks, it should be done shortly before the orzo is done. Take the asparagus off the grill and cover to keep warm.

When the orzo is al dente, drain well. Place orzo in a big bowl, add the feta, asparagus, and mix it all up.

Janice's Warm Wild Blueberry Sauce with Grilled Angel Food Cake

Grilling the low fat low calorie angel food cake over coals creates beautiful brown stripes of caramelized crispness on the outside while slightly softening the sugar spun insides of the cake, and when combined with warm blueberry sauce it is simply to die for good.

Take Angel Food Cake to a totally new level of beauty and deliciousness.

The nutrition facts for are found at Calorie Count!

Grilled Angel Food Cake with Warm Wild Blueberry Sauce.

10 servings each with only 154 calories!

Ingredients:

One Store Bought Angel Food Cake

Directions:

Slice the cake into 10 slices and grill 2-4 minutes on each side. How long depends upon how hot your coals are, do not put the cake slices too close to the coals and watch carefully so that the cake does not burn or flame on.



The sauce (below) can be prepared ahead of time and then just reheated, or made fresh in about 10 minutes.

Warm Wild Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients -

2 10 oz packages of frozen wild blueberries
1/3 C orange juice
1/3 C sugar
2 T lemon juice
4 t cornstarch

Directions -

Combine blueberries, juice and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cover and gradually bring to a boil over medium high heat, stir every now and then. After it begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer for four minutes.

While it's simmering, combine the lemon juice and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add this to the berries after the four minute simmer concludes and return to a boil for a minute or two stirring often. Remove from heat and either use it right away, or cool and put in the fridge for reheating while the angel food cake is grilling. Can be made 3-4 days in advance.

Notes:

This sauce can be used on anything you want - pancakes, oatmeal, cakes, ice cream, cheesecake, or eat it out of hand with a spoon. Lovely and remember, blueberries are good for you. Don't use a wooden spoon that you love very much while stirring as it will turn very purple.

One enterprising friend of mine just toasted the angel food cake in the toaster oven since she does not have a grill. You will miss that smokey flavor, but it sure will work in a pinch...or when the weather does not permit grilling!

Enjoy!

Suchit's Thai Yum Nua

Counting calories is not hard at all when those calories are extremely tasty! This traditional Thai salad from my good friend Suchit is fantastically high protein as well as off the charts in a variety of vitamins. When you make this at home, you are in charge of how hot and spicy it is. The Thai way would be far too hot for the non-Thai, but that is easily taken care of by reducing the number of chilis. Taste the dressing by dipping a cucumber slice into it and adjust the heat as high as you like.

The nutrition facts for this recipe are found at Calorie Count, the best FREE website to count your calories and find a lot of very supportive friends.

Yum Nua
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 pound lean tender steak such as a strip steak grilled from medium to rare as you prefer and thinly sliced

1 medium size red onion, thinly sliced
Leaf lettuce, just enough to provide a bed for the rest of the salad
Cilantro leaves, chopped (add as much as you like, perhaps 1/3 of a bunch)
10 cloves of garlic, minced or ground
5 Thai chilis or 2-3 jalapeno, grind with a mortar and pestle
1 large cucumber thinly sliced
1 tomato, cut into chunks
3 T good quality fish sauce
3 T Lime juice

Mortar and Pestle

1 T Sugar

Directions:

Grind the fresh garlic and chilis using a mortar and pestle. Then mix with the fish sauce, lime and sugar in a medium bowl. This is your dressing.

Arrange the lettuce, steak, red onion, cucumber and cilantro on a platter. Pour the dressing over the salad platter reserving some to serve at the table for those that like more dressing.

Hint for the lazy chef:

If you cannot find fresh Thai or Jalapeno peppers in your area, look in the Asian section of your grocery store for those nice little jars of already ground red chilis - my favorite brand has a drawing of a rooster on it.

If you are not a hot and spicy food person, try adding only a scant teaspoon first and increase it as you taste. If you want authentic like Suchit makes - grind those chilis and garlic!

Angela's Grilled Potato Packets

This is a terrific and easy idea - before you put the steak on the grill, put these foil packets out to grill!

The nutrition facts for this recipe can be found at the best FREE web site to count calories - Calorie Count!

Fingerling Potatoes

Grilled Potato Packets

Ingredients:

4 potatoes, thin sliced or diced
1 onion thinly sliced or diced - to taste
1 red bell pepper, thin sliced or diced
1 T parsley, fresh, chopped
1/4 t rosemary - to taste
salt and pepper to taste
8 T water


Directions:

Arrange in four foil squares, top with spices - get creative here! - sprinkle with water and fold to seal. Double wrap in another sheet of foil.

Place on a hot grill for about 30 minutes, turn a few times. Check one of the packets after 30 minutes and re-seal well to keep them veggies hot while the rest of the meal grills.

If you have room for the calories, add a teaspoon of butter to each packet for extra yum!