Quick Southwest Marinade for Grilled Chicken or Tofu #GardenCuizine #McCormickSpice

Quick Southwest Marinade 

for Grilled Chicken or Tofu

Try this quick marinade for the best grilled chicken or tofu. Serve grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced on a bias (diagnal) on top of a Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad or a Southwest Salad. 

Your family will love this recipe as much as your company! Great for holiday and summer BBQs! If you're vegetarian - try using pressed tofu. Tofu can be frozen first; thawed then pressed to squeeze out water before marinating.

Two large chicken breasts serves 3 to 4 people when sliced on top of salads.

Ingredients (for 2 chicken breasts or a block of extra firm pressed tofu)

2 tablespoons (tbsp) olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp McCormick Perfect Pinch Salt-free Southwest Sweet 'n Smoky Seasoning

Putting it all together

• Combine all ingredients in a sturdy zip-lock baggie. I use freezer baggies since we purchase chicken breasts in 6-packs when on sale and freeze some. 
• Add two chicken breasts to baggie and squish around to coat the chicken. 
• Marinate for a few hours or overnight. Best if baggie is kept flat on a plate in the refrigerator. 
• For marinating a large batch: coat the chicken breasts and marinade ingredients together in a bowl rather than using a baggie. 

Enjoy!
Related Links: Grilling Tofu

Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Creamy Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing #GardenCuizine #healthy #recipe

Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing

People seem to have a love or hate relationship with cilantro. Personally, I find more people love this cilantro dressing than dislike it. The flavors of fresh cilantro and lime pair perfectly with a Southwest Salad topped with avocado, black beans and corn like the one we just made at our Inspira Health Network healthy cooking class on Summer Salads.


Yields 9 one-ounce servings 
Ingredients
Juice of 3 limes
1 cup Cilantro, lightly packed
1/2 cup plain low fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small garlic clove, peeled
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt

Putting it all together

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Mix until well blended. Pour into a serving container - I like to use a jelly jar. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Enjoy! 

GardenCuizine Nutrition Data: Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing: 
Good Source Vitamin C
Low Sodium, Low Saturated Fat
One ounce: 68 calories, total fat 6 grams, saturated fat 1 gram, Vitamin C 10% DV
Related Links
Coriandrum sativum About Cilantro - Missouri Botanical Garden
Blog post and recipe Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Eat Clean! Read Food Labels - Note that most Pickle Relish contains Corn Syrup. Here's a #GardenCuizine #healthytip

Better Pickle Relish

Healthy Food Prep Tip

For holiday weekends and summer BBQs offer homemade potato salad, cauliflower salad or a favorite salad. If your recipe calls for pickle relish - use the best quality relish you can find next to making your own.

Always read the food label. Avoid products with added corn syrup. It's common for store bought pickle relish to have added corn syrup (artificial colors and preservatives too). For better quality pickle relish, select a jar of pickles with the least amount of ingredients and chop them yourself. Kosher dill gherkins are pretty clean and make delicious relish.
Blog post and photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Build Your Own Rain Barrel @RutgersNJAES @EPAwatersense @BurlcoTimes

Make Your Own Rain Barrel

With water becoming more and more precious, owning a rain barrel (or two or three!) may be something to consider for your home and gardens. We made our first rain barrel today with the help of Mike Haberland of Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension at the Burlington County Garden Expo.

First we went inside a beautifully renovated farmhouse at the Expo location and watched a presentation on how to make a rain barrel. This Building-a-Rain-Barrel YouTube video is a good summary.

Then we went outside the farmhouse and looked over the supplies that came with the class. We started off by wrapping window screening around a 10-inch plastic colander that will be used to keep debris and mosquitoes from entering the water inlet in the top of the barrel.

We drilled 2 holes in a used 55-gallon, blue plastic Brandy barrel... what a great repurpose project! 

I drilled a larger hole about 3-inches from the top of the barrel to put in 1 1/4-inch plastic adapter piece to serve as an overflow for when the barrel fills up with rain water. See the video for all the details.

Harry drilled a smaller hole about 3-inches from the bottom to put in the faucet. We used waterproof sealant around the inserted materials.

Just as we were working on installing the metal conduit for the overflow segment, a photographer arrived on the scene from Burlington County Times. She snapped a bunch of photos and took our names. We just may be in tomorrow's paper; we'll have to look and see!

When we got home, Harry made a shallow hole where we decided to put the rain barrel and added small stones. Our next step will be to position and level 3 cinder blocks to support and raise the barrel. 

Our final step will be to cut into the nearby rain spout and add a new section to divert water to the barrel. We plan to stop by Home Depot asap to pick up the needed supplies.

Rain barrels help the environment and are a good way to save money and conserve water.
Related Links
Why Save Water?
Rain Barrel Installation Instructions
Blog post Copyright (C) Wind. All rights reserved.