Swap Your Oven for the Grill: Chicken with Peas & Tomatoes and Grilled Vegetables Two Ways

You know that expression, “If you can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen?”

Yeah.  Well, that’s my approach to cooking dinner during the summer months.

I grill just about everything that I can, but not in a way that you’d expect. I actually utilize my grill as an outdoor oven, and find that the high heat seals in flavors and provides a distinct char to dishes that you just don’t get from the oven.

Plus, my grill recipes are a cinch to make.

Today I share with you my “Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner” that is pretty much a spin on chicken cacciatore, along with the ever versatile “Grilled Vegetables” which I provide two serving suggestions for — but Lord knows that there no less than a gazillion things you can do with grilled veggies.

Just a quick note before we get to the recipes:  I am a self-taught, home cook. I RARELY use measurements and am a big fan of approximations and “eyeballing it” when it comes to my ingredients.  I just instinctively know (most of the time!) what works and what tastes good.  One day when I author a cookbook and have a fabulous test kitchen of my own, we’ll have exact, precise measurements.  But until then, we’ll approximate 🙂

Do comment below and let me know your thoughts on these recipes.  And let’s inspire one another to think outside the bun: what kind of dishes do you prepare on your grill? And give me your take on grilled veggies and how you infuse them into your meals.

oxox

– mom a la mode

Mom a la Mode’s Chicken with Peas & Tomatoes (aka “Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner”)

Ingredients

4-6 pieces of dark meat chicken like legs and thighs — skin on or skin off (whatever your preference)
1 can stewed tomatoes, with juice (I like organic)
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice (I like organic)
1 can green peas, drained
2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed
Approx 2 TBSP olive oil
Approx 1/4 cup chicken broth (I like organic)
Approx 1/4 cup red or white wine (I use whatever is on my counter)
Hefty sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper and sea salt
1/2 palmful of dried thyme, crushed in hand first
Cooking Spray or brushed olive oil
Your favorite pasta, rice or polenta

Steps
Preheat grill to medium-high heat (gas grill).
Spray or brush a grill-proof roasting pan with cooking spray or olive oil.
Rinse and pat dry your chicken and arrange in pan.
Add smashed garlic, broth, wine, salt, pepper and thyme.
Cover pan with foil and bake at 450 for about 20 minutes.
Carefully remove pan from grill, remove foil and add tomatoes, peas and give another sprinkle of salt, pepper and thyme.  Use a spoon to ensure all chicken parts are equally covered with the vegetables.
Return to grill — uncovered — and cook for about another 20 minutes, checking to see if chicken is starting to brown, and if with-skin, the skin is getting crispy.  You’ll know it’s done, too, when your veggies start to brown/wilt a bit.  After this second 20 minute mark, monitor the dish for 5 minute increments until it appears “done”
Once “done” let it sit for about 5 minutes or so before serving.

I serve this typically over pasta (like spaghetti) but it is equally as amazing over polenta or rice.

Mom a la mode’s Grilled Vegetables

Ingredients

Farmstand veggies of your choosing — the bigger/fatter, the better! I tend to use:

Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Eggplant
Green/Orange/Red/Yellow Peppers
Beefsteak or Jersey Tomatoes

Gallon Size Freezer Zip Bags
2 cloves garlic, smashed, per freezer bag
Approx 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Approx 1/4 cup olive oil
A few sprinkles of coarse black pepper and sea salt

Steps

Slice your veggies up and evenly distribute in freezer bags.
Add garlic, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to each bag.
Carefully close each bag tightly and remove any air.
Place in fridge and let marinate for at least 1 hour but up to 3 hours.
Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
Remove veggies from bag and discard excess marinade.  Place veggies on grill and cook until a beautiful char forms on both sides (about 5 minutes each side, depending upon thickness)

How to Serve:

We eat the grilled veggies for lunch on crusty Italian bread with fresh mozzarella and cured meats.  Then store the leftover veggies in the fridge for a simple supper.

Like this one:

Grilled Veggies with Pasta:

In a large dutch oven or pot, heat 2 TBSP olive oil and sauté 1 clove chopped garlic for 2 minutes.  Cut up your grilled veggies and add them and any juices from their storage container into the pot.  Stir and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until thoroughly warmed up.  Add 1 can drained white beans and cooked pasta of your choosing (I like farfalle or rotelle).  Plate and garnish with grated parmigiano cheese and fresh black pepper.

There are countless variations to all of these recipes and I can tell you that I hardly ever make them the same way twice.  It’s often determined by how I’m feeling that day (do I add a can of sliced potatoes to the chicken dish today?) and what I have on hand in my pantry (do I even have a can of sliced potatoes?)  But isn’t that how it is for most of us home cooks?

Bon Appetit!

 

{The recipes in this post are original recipes of Mom a la Mode, a Groupe a la Mode, LLC brand.  Please feel free to share with others, but kindly include credit to Mom a la Mode (http://momalamode.net) if printing, posting via social media, sharing electronically, etc. I was not compensated in any way for this post.   As always, all opinions expressed in this post are solely mine.}