I had to be crazy to grill today. It literally poured the entire day – even the dogs had no interest in going outdoors.
However, yesterday my husband and I returned from a mini vacation to Arizona. The weather was perfect and the food, spectacular! I was so inspired that I couldn’t wait to get home and cook.
Although I had something specific in mind to prepare this evening, my daughter begged me to make something using a salsa. I decided on Tequila Lime Grilled Chicken Breasts with Grilled Pineapple Salsa. For a side dish I prepared Roasted Golden Beets with a Citrus Vinaigrette, both were light and delicious. The salad was inspired by a restaurant we dined at in Arizona. I’ll share that recipe on my next post.
I started by marinating my chicken breast halves this morning so they’d have plenty of time to absorb the flavors. My salsa I whipped together this evening while the grill was fired up. This dish would be fantastic with grilled chicken, sea bass or halibut. I hope you like it…….
Chicken:
1/8 cup tequila
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (approximately 2 limes)
1/8 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (I used Clementine's since I had an abundant amount)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Salsa:
1 large fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into 10 rounds
1 large orange bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 Roma Tomatoes, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeño, minced
1/3 cup cilantro, minced
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
The Tequila Lime Chicken was adapted from Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa Family Style. I did change the recipe slightly by adding olive oil and reducing the ingredients by two-thirds.