Lemon Chicken with Cucumber Salsa

Recipe Adapted From:
The Pampered Chef Casual Cooking Cookbook

Ingredients:

Chicken and Marinade
1 broiler-fryer chicken (4 pounds), cut into quarters
2 lemons
3 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cucumber Salsa
1/2 medium unpeeled cucumber, seeded and coarsley chopped (1 cup)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped red onion
1/3 cup pitted ripe olives, sliced
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper

Preparation:
1. For chicken and marinade, rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Trim any excess fat from chicken. Zest lemons to measure 1 tablespoon zest. Juice lemons to measure 1/2 cup juice. Place zest and juice in Mixing Bowl. Press garlic into batter bowl. Add oil, oregano, paprika, salt and black pepper; whisk. Remove 2 tablespoons of the marinade and reserve for the salsa.
2. Add chicken to marinade in mixing bowl; turn to coat. Cover; marinate in refrigerator 2-4 hours, turning chicken occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, for salsa, coarsely chop cucumber and onion. Slice olives; dice bell pepper. Place vegetables in small bowl; add reserved 2 tablespoons marinade and mix gently. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. Prepare grill for indirect cooking over medium coals. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Place chicken, skin side up, on grid of grill. Grill, covered, 45-50 minutes or until chicken registers 180°F in thickest part of thigh portion and juices run clear. Serve salsa with chicken.

Notes & Tips:
I didn't have any fryer chickens so I just used 3 large chicken breasts. It worked out better because it only took 25-30 to cook through. Also, I didn't any paprika so I subbed in cayenne pepper. Which I loved, the spice was very nice. I served this with couscous.

Nutrition Facts:
Serves 4. Calories 470, Total Fat 27 g, Saturated Fat 6 g, Cholesterol 150 mg, Carbohydrate 7 g, Protein 50 g, Sodium 520 mg, Fiber 2 g

Firecracker Grilled Salmon

Recipe Taken From:
Taste of Home Healthy Cooking Magazine
February/March 2011

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 salmon fillets (6 ounces each)

Preparation:

In a small bowl, combine the first ten ingredients. Pour 1/4 cup marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. Add the salmon; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for up to 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade. Drain and discard marinade.
Using long-handled tongs, moisten a paper towel with cooking oil and lightly coat the grill rack. Place salmon skin side down on grill rack. Grill, covered, over high heat or broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 5-10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork, basting occasionally with remaining marinade. Yield: 4 servings.

Notes & Tips:

I served this with a salad and Naan Bread (which is my favorite). The marinade definitely has some kick to it, if you wanted to limit that spice you can cut back on the red pepper flakes.

Nutrition Facts:

1 fillet equals 306 calories, 18 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 85 mg cholesterol, 367 mg sodium, 4 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 29 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 5 lean meat, 1 fat.

Cranberry-Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Recipe Taken From:
Midwest Living Magazine
April 2011

Ingredients:
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1-1/2 pounds uncooked ground chicken or turkey
1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. snipped fresh marjoram or 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed (or rosemary)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt or 1/8 teaspoon regular salt
1 to 2 oz. Parmesan cheese, shaved
4 thin slices fresh mozzarella cheese or 4 slices regular mozzarella cheese
4 Kaiser rolls or sesame hamburger buns, split and toasted
Lettuce leaves

Preparation:
1. In a small saucepan, bring orange juice to boiling. Remove from heat; stir in cranberries. Let stand for 5 minutes. Drain cranberries, discarding orange juice.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine ground chicken/turkey, bread crumbs, marjoram/rosemary and salt. Shape chicken/turkey mixture into 8 1/2-inch-thick patties. (The mixture may be sticky. If necessary, wet hands to shape patties.)

3. Place one-fourth of the cranberries and one-fourth of the Parmesan cheese on the center of each of 4 patties. Top with the remaining patties; press edges to seal.

4. For a charcoal grill: Grill patties on the greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 14 to 18 minutes or until no longer pink (165 degrees F)*, turning once halfway through grilling. (For a gas grill: Preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place patties on greased grill rack over heat. Cover; grill as above.) Top each burger with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Grill, uncovered, about 3 minutes more or until cheese begins to melt. Serve burgers on toasted rolls with lettuce leaves. Makes 4 burgers.

Notes & Tips:
Well the orginal recipe was for chicken burgers, but I don't know about you but where in the world do you get ground chicken? So I subbed turkey. Also I didn't have any marjoram in my cabinet so I used rosemary. I think these turned out great. Since it was raining out I used my little indoor electric grill and they came out great. Mat even said he'd love to have them again. My one pice of advice is to make sure you have big enough buns...mine were tiny haha.

Nutrition Facts:
552 Calories
22g Fat
47g Carbs
3g Fiber
42g Protein