I love blogging.  I have always said it has been the fun surprise about my business.  What I thought would be a great way for me to share my menu’s with customers has instead become my platform about life, through the eyes of someone who is passionate about food.  When I am inspired I write.  When I am sad I write.  When I am beyond happy over the moon, I write.  When I cook, I write.  The biggest challenge for me is writing down what I create in order to share it with you in a recipe format.

As I have been thinking about sharing more recipes and menu ideas over the summer, I realize what a great catalog I am creating of my days in food.  Part of sharing is the real stuff, the little things that aren’t perfect.  The things that happen to all cooks, even professionals, that make you feel better.  For some reason I never think of myself as a professional, but apparently I am.

So you know…this morning I was preparing my egg for breakfast.  I love a fresh natural egg, fried perfectly so it is slightly runny when cut into, the yolk creating a perfectly natural sauce for whatever it is set upon.  Many mornings this includes chopped tomatoes and avocado.  Today I was short on ingredients and decided to use salsa for my juevos.  Yum, I couldn’t wait, and just as I spooned the salsa on I realized I had used pizza sauce from the other night!  Really?  What’s a girl to do?  So I sprinkled a little parmesan on top for Italian eggs instead.  Not sure I would intentionally re-create it, but there you have it.  So you know, we all make mistakes.  The recipes and the pictures always look, and are good, but it happens to all of us.  Enjoy it, make the most of it.  Choose to laugh instead of cry.

Below is a very simple recipe for salsa, a great thing to keep on hand in the fridge over these summer days…breakfast, lunch, or dinner there are a lot of ways to use it- just don’t mistake it for pizza sauce!

Nell’s Favorite Homemade Salsa

1-28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes (in summer fresh, very ripe tomatoes are perfect!)

½ bunch cilantro

¼ onion, cut into small pieces

1 small clove garlic, smashed

Juice of half a lime

*optional- half a seeded fresh jalapeno

Dash of sea salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender until desired consistency and serve. Great when prepared a day or few hours ahead of time for flavors to marry.

 I’ll make this short and sweet, like dinner tonight.  Our bbq grilled chicken sandwiches were a total hit, something we haven’t had in a while but I’m certain will be requested again soon.  Tender, juicy, flavorful, easy to eat, and hush…don’t tell- healthy!  Who would have known if they had just showed up and eaten with us, wiping all the juice off their elbow like it was a good summertime BLT eaten at the kitchen sink?  Easy and quick to prepare and grill, it’s the type of meal you can adjust to your own likings or change up each time.

Start with your preference of chicken.  We like the dark meat (we’re just smart like that), so we chose boneless skinless chicken thighs.  For all you white meat lovers out there, using boneless breasts is good too.  Just be sure to either buy thin cuts or slice the breast in half lengthwise yourself if you’re ambitious and practicing your knife skills.  Place chicken in a 9×13 dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then marinate in bbq sauce for a few minutes while you get a few other things ready.

BBQ sauce, thus the house divided part.  We had some leftover Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce to finish up from making BBQ Chicken pizza’s recently, check.  Then, of course, we had to open a bottle of SC mustard based sauce for my sand lapper husband.  I tell you one thing, two things you almost always find in my fridge door are Carolina Treet and a stray bottle of SC mustard sauce…really.  In fact, I will admit this because my husband is not reading this, but that SC mustard sauce sure is good.  (As long as you don’t call it bbq sauce.)

Back to the sandwiches.  It’s super simple from here on out and I won’t question your grilling capabilities with the details.  Just grill your chicken over low heat so the meat cooks through well and doesn’t char, over indirect, low heat turning often.  (This would be a good time to mention that if you aren’t an equal opportunity grilling home, and the man does all the grilling, please give me a call this summer and we’ll put together a “Girls on the Grill” class.)  Although, I will give credit where credit is due, my husband is a great griller and cooked the chicken perfectly this evening, thank you.  Be sure to grill/toast the buns, too!

Next, a note about the condiments, a very important note as these more or less can make or break the whole sandwich.  Tonight we had a selection of sliced tomatoes with chives, arugula, spicy guacamole, applewood smoked bacon, mayonnaise and mustard, all of which were in the fridge and not bought for this dinner.  The apple wood smoked bacon, courtesy of Trader Joe’s, is an uncured, smokey bacon I would buy again for something like this.  Although it was too smokey to have alone at breakfast this morning, which we tried, it was absolutely perfect on this sandwich tonight. Enough flavor came through to taste it without overpowering the chicken, and by re-heating it on the grill it not only saved a dish, but had a great grilled look to boot.

Setting up a fun selection of toppings is one of my favorite ways to fancy meals up a bit and let people create their own personal flavors.  It is a great way to turn these BBQ Chicken sandwiches into Asian Grilled Chicken Sandwiches (think chicken marinated with fresh ginger, dash of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar & olive oil, served with cilantro, srichacha mayo, Thai chili sauce, pineapple- lime cole slaw, slivered red peppers), or Tex Mex Chicken Grilled Sandwiches (think chicken marinated in chili powder, cumin, dried oregano, garlic salt, lime juice and olive oil served with grilled bell peppers, sliced avocado’s, chipotles, jalapeno’s, pepper jack cheese), Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Sandwiches (think olive oil, red wine vinegar & lemon juice for a marinade then serve with thinly sliced cucumbers, hummus, olive or artichoke tapenade, roasted red peppers on ciabatta bread).  Get creative but keep the toppings either easy for you to buy, or prepare, so this dinner stays simple and good for all!

My mulberry margarita (pictured above) was perhaps the second best item, but details on that will follow shortly on Moose Mixology…

I’ll wrap this up now, it has been a great day in the kitchen and a full afternoon spent by the pool with children and their friends.  Day is almost done, the sun is going down and this is one tired but happy mama ready to take it easy for a little bit.  This was such a satisfying & simple meal that came together in well under an hour start to finish, and I mean dishes done and napkins dirty start to finish!  Perhaps you’ll be tired of grilling burgers and just need a healthy meal that satisfies everyone.

Enjoy, the best of food and life, one dinner at a time!