whet your whistle wednesday: grilling

by 8 Comments

Grilling has always been a favorite of mine. I watched my dad do it growing up and when I got out on my own and had space I quickly purchased a grill. Even in California I have reserved grilling for summer. There is something special about the first time you pull something off the grill. Hope you enjoy my ode to summer and grilling this week. This weeks photos are some to the recipes I have made so far this summer.

wit wisdom and food grilled chicken

grilled chicken on a bed of thyme

Since sweet potatoes are such an important staple to the Whole 30 diet I am always up for some different ways to cook them. The grill never crossed my mind. These skewers look extremely enticing. Why do things on skewers always seem more fun?

We love our vegetables and are working on grilling more and handy veggie cooking time chart is going to come in handy.

When we eat at Bengal BBQ in Disneyland the bacon wrapped asparagus are the thing I look forward to the most. So this recipe is definitely hitting the grill this weekend.

These squash ribbons with prosciutto look beautiful. I don’t know how functional but they get me with the beauty and the prosciutto doesn’t hurt.

Lemon salt zucchini spears sound delicious. We are still working on seasoning technique for our veggies and this plastic bag trick looks like a winner.

When you are ready for dessert just throw the whole pineapple right on the coals and serve with ice cream!

 

wit wisdom & food cilantro chili lime shrimp

cilantro chili lime shrimp

Did you know that you can help make your grill a little more non-stick?

Use the hand test to tell how well done your steak is. No need to guess and wonder with this clever technique.

Not sure if you should cook your food over direct or indirect heat? Lucky you there is an infographic for that. Infographics are like apps there is one for everything.

To make cleaning even easier brush it off right after you take your food off while the grates are still piping hot. If that isn’t enough try a DIY cleaner for your grill.

 

cilantro chili lime shrimp

by 4 Comments

Ever since we did our Whole 30 we have worked on sticking with it. We enjoy treats every once in a while because as they say it is “Whole 30 not Whole 365″. To keep up with eating well has meant coming up with an arsenal of recipes that are quick, easy and makes enough for leftovers. Having recipes that fit that criteria are the only thing that keeps me from cursing every time I have to get back into the kitchen.

This grilled shrimp recipe certainly fits the bill and will probably be my lifesaver for months to come. We cooked 2 pounds of shrimp. I believe these were 31-40 shrimp so 2 pounds gave us roughly 80 shrimp. We made these as part of a surf and turf dinner on the grill. Between a little steak and all our grilled veggies we had plenty of shrimp left over. We used our leftovers the next two days for breakfast in a scramble. I am thinking of making again this weekend so I can have some easy to grab protein for salads.

Have you done a Whole 30? What are your go to recipes to help make time in the kitchen shorter?

wit wisdom & food cilantro chili lime shrimp

 

Print
cilantro chili lime shrimp

Ingredients

  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 pounds shrimp

Instructions

  1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or ziploc bag.
  2. Add shrimp and toss to coat
  3. Marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour
  4. Put shrimp on skewers
  5. Grill for 2-3 minutes per side
  6. If you don't have a grill you can put them under the broiler for 2-3 minutes per side
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://www.witwisdomandfood.com/2014/06/cilantro-chili-lime-shrimp.html

butterflied chicken grilled on a bed of thyme

by 6 Comments

Cleaning out old magazines always unleashes some amazing recipes. This weekend was no exception. I found this tasty gem from a Fine Cooking magazine. The best part about this recipe is the butter and mustard mixture you put under the skin. This was the most delicious and tender chicken and a great way to kick of grilling season. Will have to do this again and play around with the herbs in the butter mixture.

chicken

I have used the butterfly or spatchcocking method to cook a chicken before. All you need to do is remove the backbone and then flatten the chicken by breaking the breastbone. Doing this helps cook the chicken faster and more evenly. I hear it is great when you do this with the Thanksgiving turkey too. If you want to give a try check out my other post that demonstrates how to cut the backbone out of the chicken. It is less scary than you think, though it sounds like a Dexter episode.