Tequila lime chicken recipe from my Adopt-a-Blogger adoptee

I've been wanting to try this recipe for months now, but weird food allergies, several trips, and finishing my dissertation kept me out of the kitchen.  It was worth the wait, though.  This is a recipe from my Adopt-a-Blogger adoptee, Anne at My Cooking Myself.  Anne recently moved her blog to blogger, so even if you've been to her blog before, go visit again because it's looking great!

I changed a few things about the recipe (I didn't use a jalapeno because I didn't have one, and baked the chicken instead of grilling it), but the flavors were fantastic.  This was also some of the juiciest chicken I've ever had.  I don't typically eat a lot of plain meat (not incorporated into a dish with other things), but I'm glad I made an exception for this recipe.  Thanks, Anne!

Tequila lime chicken (adapted from My Cooking Myself, originally from Ina Garten)

(Printable version)

1/4 cup gold tequila (I used one of those tiny bottles)

juice of 2 oranges

juice of 3 limes

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2-3 chicken breasts (I used bone-in and removed the skin, but anything will work)

Combine the first seven ingredients in a large bowl, and then add chicken.  Cover and refrigerate for 8-24 hours, turning once if chicken isn't completely covered.  Remove chicken from marinade and place in a small baking dish.  Cover dish with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.  Then remove foil and continue to bake until chicken is done (I used huge pieces of chicken and it took another 20 min).  Serves 4.

Adopt-a-Blogger 4

It's time for another round of Adopt-a-Blogger, and this time I'm a veteran.  Thanks to Kristen at Dine & Dish for organizing this event yet again!!  I had a lot of fun learning from Julia, my mentor in the last round, and hopefully I can pass some of that info along (even though I still feel like there's an infinite amount for me to learn!).  I had great plans of introducing my mentee, Anne at My Cooking Myself, by trying out one of her recipes this week.  I've been drooling over her Tequila Lime Chicken, but unfortunately an allergic reaction* last Friday has caused me to be extremely careful about what I'm eating (including no alcohol and no citrus), so the recipe will have to wait a little while.  In the meantime, go check out Anne's site and try out this recipe for me (or any of her others!).  And if you have any advice for a relatively new blogger, feel free to leave a comment here or on Anne's blog.    

*Don't worry, Mom, the hives are finally starting to go away :)

Chile and cilantro stuffed tilapia

**This is not a gluten-free recipe and was posted before I eliminated gluten from my diet. However, gluten-free bread crumbs could be easily substituted.**

If I haven't already convinced you to visit my blogging mentor Julia's site, Grow. Cook. Eat., hopefully this will twist your arm. Last weekend I was thinking about cooking the rest of the tilapia that was hanging out in my freezer, but I couldn't decide on a recipe. I've tried a few, but none have turned out as good as a simple saute. I wanted to do something new and different, though, and was incredibly excited when I woke up the next morning to find that Julia had just posted a tilapia recipe.

Chile and cilantro stuffed tilapia (adapted from Grow. Cook. Eat.)

1 tsp chopped jalapeno

1 green onion, chopped

1 tsp parsley, minced

1 tsp cilantro, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup bread crumbs (I toasted and crumbled a piece of homemade bread, but Julia used panko crumbs, which sounds even better)

1/2 Tbsp olive oil

3 small tilapia filets

salt and pepper to taste

1 lime

Combine jalapeno, onion, parsley, cilantro, and garlic in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix bread crumbs and oil together. Season fish with salt and pepper and place it on a baking sheet. Squeeze lime over the filets, spread jalapeno mixture over them, and then sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for about 12 min, or until flaky. Serves 2-3.

This was fabulous. The flavors were great, but didn't overwhelm the fish (I love a good pure fish taste). I'm glad I didn't cook my tilapia last week... but a little freaked out that Julia can read my mind :).

My blogging mentor (Julia from Grow. Cook. Eat.), flowers, and farmers

It's been fun trying to figure out the whole blogging thing, but I know that I still have a lot to learn and can make the process more enjoyable for my faithful readers (thanks to those of you who keep up with my adventures!).  I was excited to read that Kristen at Dine & Dish was putting together a third round of Adopt-a-Blogger, a program in which she pairs experienced food bloggers with newbies like me.  I was very excited to be paired with Julia from Grow. Cook. Eat.  Julia has a lot of professional cooking experience and is now a food consultant.  She also creates cookbooks for CSAs that highlight the produce specific to that farm.  Her blog is somewhat different from most food blogs because she manages to include fabulous recipes, updates from her garden, and interesting tidbits on food and wine.  I'm very excited to have her as my mentor because she has a great blog and an immense amount of experience in the food world, and I'm sure that I can learn a lot from her.  Because I don't have room for a garden of my own (other than the tomato plants that I'm hoping to grow in containers on my patio), I'm looking forward to reading her garden updates this summer and learning more about the whole experience for when I can finally have one of my own. I highly recommend that you check out her blog!

Speaking of growing things, I'm happy to report that flowers are finally blooming in Michigan!  These are tulips right outside of my apartment, and there are enormous beds of them next to my building on campus.  I don't remember there being so many around the city in previous springs, but perhaps I'm paying more attention after the severe winter that we had to endure.  I doubt that I'll be able to make it to Holland, MI this year for the tulip festival, but it looks like we're having one of our own in Lansing :).

As my excitement about flowers was building, I also knew that this meant that my wait would soon be over.  Today was the opening day for the Meridian Township Farmers' Market, and I've been patiently awaiting this day since it closed in late October.  This market is less than 2 miles from my apartment and is the best one in the Lansing area.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get much today because I was heading straight to campus to help with the Michigan Science Olympiad, and knew that I could only buy produce that could withstand sitting in the car for 9 hours.  That ruled out the strawberries - they looked amazing but incredibly fragile - so they will have to wait until next week.  I did get asparagus and spinach, and just ate the best spinach salad I've had in a long time.  I also got good info about tomato plants, which I hope to buy from one of the vendors in the next couple of weeks.  More than anything, it was great to see everyone (both vendors and patrons) excited about being back at the market.  I missed the sense of community that I feel every Saturday during the summer and fall, and I'm so happy that I have it back!