A strange amalgamation of flavors, to be sure. And what we are going to do here is, for the most part, ignore the chicken. Why, well because all that I did there was pour some store bought marinade into a Ziploc bag and put the chicken in the freezer until I was ready to cook it. Sure I would love to say I made a teriyaki marinade from scratch, but it just didn’t happen, this time.
Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa
If you have never had quinoa because it is a “health food” (oooh scary) you could be in for a pleasant surprise. This little grain cooks up to about the consistency of rice and has a slightly nutty flavor, but what surprises me the most is the aroma. The uncooked quinoa has a very distinct aroma that is very appealing, and which carries all the way through the dish.
For this side dish (which really could stand on it’s own) I chose a recipe from epicurious which I have linked in the recipe title, because it used ingredients and flavors that we really enjoy. Tomato, lime, black beans, cilantro, these are all staples of southwest cooking. Instead of steaming as directed, I prepared the quinoa as directed on the package, because it was simpler. You certainly can steam it if you wish. As to the rest of the recipe, here are my thoughts.
The recipe calls for “two medium tomatoes.” I used two roma tomatoes, diced, and I really felt that this was almost too much tomato for the dish. Probably could have gotten away with just a tomato and a half or even only one. At the same time however, the limes I used proved to be less than juicy, making me work for every last drop, and perhaps a little bit more lime juice in the dish would have balanced better with the tomato. The recipe called for scallions, which I added, but I didn’t really feel that they brought anything to the table so to speak, other than a nice color addition. The dressing had a very nice flavor profile, and consisting of butter, oil, sugar, salt, pepper, lime juice, and lime zest, was extremely simple to make. I could definitely see adding it to other rice or quinoa dishes. Overall this was a very good recipe, although the next time I make it I will most likely boost the lime juice, or at least make sure I have two full tbsp, and cut back on the tomato.Grilled Corn
Grilled corn is so simple and delicious that I definitely need to make it much much more often than I do now, which is, well, almost never.
What you want to do is take your ear of corn and start pulling back on the layers of husk. Anything that is a hard layer, yank off and get rid of. All of the soft layers you want to just gently peel back until you have the corn exposed. You see all that stringy silk? Yank that stuff off and get it outta here. Once you have all the hard husks and silk removed, fold the soft husks back to perform a protective barrier. At this point some people soak the corn in water to add moisture so the husks don't char.
I kind of like letting the husks burn away as the corn cooks, exposing the kernels and giving them a char, so I skip that step. Just make sure they don't catch on fire! Cook over medium high heat for about 15 minutes or so giving a quarter turn every 3-4 minutes so the corn cooks evenly. After about 15 minutes I tore the husks off and let the corn cook directly on the grill until there all of the corn looked evenly cooked. (the uncooked/undercooked corn is not as golden as the cooked corn.
Remove from the grill, add butter and maybe some chili powder or chipotle powder (or really anything your heart desires, it's your food, go crazy!) and enjoy the meal!
