Last summer, on a hike with my dear friend Sandy during some down time at a conference in Park City,  I came to the realization that I have a love and passion for cooking with spices. This may or may not be something obvious to someone who reads this blog, but discovering new flavors through spices makes me kind of … giddy.

On that same hike, I told Sandy that I have always wanted to start a series of some sort on this blog where I would talk about spices that I love to cook with or that I’m just learning about, spices that might intimidate people or spices that might be renting space in your cabinet that you have no idea what to do with.

This all goes hand in hand with what keeps me writing this blog – my love of talking about food with other people, sharing ideas, and ultimately inspiring someone to cook!

So here we are one year later…a first of hopefully many Spice Kitchen posts.

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I just recently started eating chicken more often again, and grilling it is definitely my method of choice. As I was trying to pull together new ideas of serving it (because we all know plain old chicken breast can get a bit…hmmm, shall we say – redundant?) I figured I’d compile a nice list of recipes for you all here as well.

What I love about grilled chicken is that if you plan ahead and throw some extra on the grill, your leftovers can become a totally new meal, usually in the form of a salad or sandwich for me (in pasta would be good too!).

Enjoy this round up of deliciousness, hope you find yourself a little inspired to add grilled chicken to your menu….and happy grilling!

Grilled and Stuffed Chicken Caprese from Eclectic Recipes

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Today’s salad is another Instagram inspired meal (like this one). I caught a glimpse of this Tropical Shrimp Salad from an Instagram friend The Foodie Physician one evening and instantly fell in love. Now, it’s pretty obvious that my salad isn’t exactly like Sonali’s. I basically used her marinade and dressing recipes with what I had on hand and this grilled chicken salad was born.

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errr, I mean plate. But I just really like how bowl sounds. Would you agree?

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This idea for dinner slapped me in the face the other day as I was sitting in car line waiting to pick up my kids for school. I had no plan for dinner, and the lack of plan was occupying my mind…I knew I had to think of something quick.

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Is summer flying by or what? The first part of our summer seemed so slow and lazy…but then July kicked in and phew…it’s almost over!  School is starting here in less than 3 weeks. Craziness!

If I had to pick a favorite meal this summer…it might be this pizza. I made it a couple times last week with some naan bread I took out of the freezer and some leftover pesto I had in the fridge. I used what I had which happened to be yellow bell peppers, vidalia onions and tomatoes for toppings. And freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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My husband loves his steak. I’m sure many of you do too. I personally don’t love steak, but I have nothing against it either. I just didn’t grow up eating it very often. As a matter of fact I actually don’t think I had my first “good” steak until I was dating my husband (hello filet mignon…).

When my mom did make steak back in the day, she always marinated it in homemade Italian dressing. I always remembered it having such a great zesty flavor when she made it that way. I actually really liked it, though now I know I prefer my steak medium vs well done (thinking back, I think there was a fear of undercooked meat in my childhood household).

My marinade is very basic: olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, thyme, crushed garlic cloves, onion powder, salt and pepper, no real measurements, I mostly eyeballed everything. I whisked it all together in a bowl and then added it along with two NY strips to a large zip lock bag. I let it marinate for about an hour in the fridge to let all those good flavors soak into the steaks. Feel free to marinate your steaks overnight.

We grilled our steaks, but these would be great under the broiler or in a cast iron skillet (or both).

(when I say “our” steaks…I actually mean my husband and my daughter’s, my son and I sat this one out.) 🙂

Sunday Steak Marinade

Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I used Holland House Red Wine Vinegar)
small palm full of dried oregano
small palm full of dried thyme
big pinch of onion powder
big pinch each of coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
2-3 cloves garlic, smashed with your knife

2 NY strip steaks (or steaks of your choice)

Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl. Add steaks and marinade into large ziplock bag. Squeeze all air out and seal tightly. Gently massage marinade into steaks for about a minute. Place steaks and marinade into refrigerator for at least an hour, or up to overnight.

Grill steaks to desired doneness. (Here’s a great page of tips for grilling.)

Our steaks were served with homemade roasted peppers, grilled sweet potato wedges and garlic onion rolls.

“Get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, Rouxbe and ManPans.

I’ve partnered up with Holland House vinegars this month for their Everyday Cooking campaign that is simply about how to include Holland House vinegars in your everyday meals. I use different types of vinegar almost daily, whether it be part of a salad dressing or a marinade just like this one.

For more ideas on how to use vinegars to spruce up some of your everyday meals visit Holland House Everyday Cooking on Facebook!

(Disclosure: I received products and compensation from Holland House for this post, but my thoughts and opinions are always my own.)

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Would you be mad at me for posting this short and sweet like the recipe?

I made these for the family over the weekend after a nice grilled dinner.  I got the idea while flipping through Steamy Kitchen’s cookbook…was surprised to find them in there!  What surprised me even more is that I didn’t think of them myself!  These guys were so awesome…and such a great way to end a meal…practically guilt free.

Start of by laying your banana on its side, using a pairing knife gently slice through skin and banana making sure to not cut through to the other side.  Once you’ve made your slice, tuck in your fixings.  You can stuff them with whatever suits you…chocolate candy bars, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, caramels, coconut, chopped nuts.   The sound of it all is heavenly isn’t it?  Place them on hot grill over indirect heat and cook until soft and skins are black.  You have to check on them and touch them a bit.

We used what we had on hand…chocolate chips, coconut and toasted and chopped hazelnuts.  My kids were not as excited as Larry and I were…apparently the “melted” version of chocolate chips were not the same as the solid form.  And for my daughter who for some odd reason does not like chocolate, I took a chance and tried butterscotch chips on hers.  Nah.  So, Larry and I enjoyed ours and theirs….and we were absolutely okay with that.

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Although I grew up in a family pizzeria, I never really attempted to make my own pizza at home for some reason. I’ve watched my dad make probably a million pies over the years, you would think I would know what to do with my eyes closed. But honestly, it wasn’t until my Grown Folks Pizza and Ice Cream Social that I started to feel comfortable working with dough. Once I saw my friend Dan toss a disc of pizza dough in the air, I decided that I am going to have to step it up and carry on the pizza making tradition in the family. So I’ve been practicing. And it’s been fun.

Now that I’ve got the dough handling down, I wanted to try something new. Grilled Pizza. I have heard about it in blogosphere and even watched an episode on it on Grill It With Bobby Flay the other day. But honestly, the thought of it kinda made me nervous.

I’m here to tell you…don’t be scared to try this. I was so excited about how my first grilled pizza turned out that I can not wait to make it again! The crust is so crisp that you won’t believe you had a part in making it.

Now, I did encounter a slight obstacle while cooking my pizza on the grill. I started off by grilling up the bottom of the pizza so that it would be easier to handle when adding the toppings. I then took the parcooked dough of the grill, added the toppings, placed back on the hot grill rack, and pulled down the cover (all with the help of my sister in law, her husband and a glass of pinot grigio!). The top of the pizza didn’t cook up as quickly as I thought it would so to avoid the risk of burning the bottom of the pizza, we put it under the broiler in the oven for a bit to finish it off. We weren’t disappointed in the results at all…though I am wondering how I could have cooked that entire pizza on the grill without burning it. Bobby (Flay) grilled up both sides of the pizza before adding any toppings, so I will try that next time. Any advice out there?? Please share…

This pizza did turn out delicious, between the wonderfully light and crispy crust and the fresh toppings it was no doubt a winner. This pizza recipe has been featured before in my Foodbuzz 24 post, but it was so good that I had to share with you again!

 

Larry's Italian Stallion Pizza

Ingredients:

• Pizza Dough (I get mine from Publix bakery)
• Olive Oil
• Tomato Sauce
• Dried Oregano
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Prosciutto de Parma, chopped
• Genoa Salami, chopped (we left this out this time)
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Asiago Cheese shavings
• Fresh Basil

Directions:

1. Spread out dough to desired shape and size (don't worry about it being perfect). Brush both sides of dough with olive oil to avoid sticking on the grill (you can also spray the grill to be extra safe). Sprinkle dough with salt and pepper (optional). Place dough carefully on preheated grill rack over medium-low indirect heat.
2. Let dough cook for about 10 minutes, watching carefully for even browning and grill marks. Once you've got your crust nice and crisp, take off grill with large spatula and place onto a baking sheet or pizza stone. Add your pizza sauce, dried oregano, mozzarella and additional toppings. Place in oven, preheated to 400-425 degrees, to finish cooking for about 10 minutes. Pizza is done when cheese and crust are a golden brown.

Follow AggiesKitchen on Instagram and show us what recipes you are making from the blog! Use the hashtag #aggieskitchen - I'd love to see what you are cooking up!

Oh and P.S….

…one of my recipes is a finalist in MyRecipes’ Who Makes the Best Summer Dessert? contest! Please go check it out here and vote for your favorite!! Voting ends Thursday, July 23!

Check out my Pinterest board for more flatbread recipes.
Follow Aggie’s Kitchen’s board Pizza & Flatbread on Pinterest.

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Tropical Fruit Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fresh diced kiwi
• 1/2 cup fresh diced mango
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Directions:

Combine in bowl. Serve over grilled salmon or chicken.

Recipe compliments of nephew Ryan

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