Dinner ideas

My buddies Kate and Sara over at Our Best Bites have given me some wonderful ideas for dinner, so I thought I'd share them here.

The first one is "Faux-tisserie" Chicken. It is so simple. I'm not a fan of handling raw meat, but the gross factor really was minimal. The results were lovely, and I got two more meals out of the remaining chicken. The flavor was even better the second day.

6-7 pound whole chicken

spice rub (I made my own out of smoked paprika, freshly ground pepper and sea salt)

3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly

aluminum foil, wadded up into baseball sized lumps

Rinse, drain and pat dry the chicken. Separate the skin from the breast at least partway and slide the garlic in. Generously rub the spices on top. Space three foil wads evenly in the bottom of the crock pot (I use at 6 quart oval) and place the chicken on top, breast side up. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. The chicken literally fell apart when I pulled it out - yummy! The skin also cooked nicely, just like a rotisserie chicken and not soggy at all.

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I've made the rest of these but haven't taken my own photos, so I'll just post the links for you.

Chili Lime Mango Skewers - these were fantastic! I loved the carmelized mango the best. In fact, we nearly came to blows over the last piece on the platter. It's really that good. In making this, I discovered the awesomeness of a mango cutter. My sister has one (I need to get one myself), and it slices the pit out so nicely with no wasted good stuff on the sides.

Asian BBQ Chicken - a good, basic recipe for grilled chicken that goes with pretty much anything.

Chicken Fajitas - I'm usually lazy and don't marinate my meat ahead, rather I just dump a bunch of seasonings on at the end. I really liked how these ones turned out, though, and even managed to get the kids to eat some of the veggies. I also discovered that a non-stick grill topper pan was a great way to cook the veggies. I also added some chipotle chili powder to the marinade because that's one of my very favorite seasonings.

Spicy Honey Chicken - very, very tasty. In fact, I'm making it this weekend for my family. I even used thighs like the recipe suggested and was pleasantly surprised at how moist they turned out. Much more difficult to screw up than breasts, which tend to dry out on the grill if you aren't careful.

I'm getting back in to my cooking groove as the weather is cooling down. I've also been forced to do some more crock pot dishes because of piano lesson and soccer practice timing. I'd love some more ideas for crock pot dishes, so please share your favorites.