Happy {belated} Cinco de Mayo & a recipe!

Hey friends!  We’re just chugging along here enjoying this spring weather we’re having here in Utah this week. It’s been so freezing cold and this week we’ve finally had some warmer weather! It’s been in the 70’s the past couple of days! That sure beats the 40’s and 50’s!

Anyway… Brent and I took the opportunity to do a little grilling last night and “celebrated” Cinco de Mayo.  We marinated some chicken Weber’s Tequila Lime marinade and then tossed it on the grill.  I’ve got to figure out how to make this marinade without the use of a “packet”.  This chicken is out of this world delicious and we like to eat it in salads and on “street tacos” which is what we made for our dinner. You can read about street tacos here. I love getting carnitas street tacos from the little Mexican cafes here in town.  They are sooo yummy!

 

For our version of a street taco I lightly fried eight (reserving 4 for leftovers for lunches on Friday) corn tortillas.. cooking them just enough to make them soft and then set them out on paper towels.  We sliced up some red peppers and white onions into strips and put them in our basket on the grill and let them cook while the chicken was cooking.

To make our tacos we just piled up a few slices of chicken, some grilled veggies, diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce (well, Brent did on his), chopped cilantro and drizzled some homemade blender salsa over it.  You top the taco with some fresh lime juice.. MmmMMm! Be careful, these are very juicy!

I’ve been wanting to make Cilantro Lime Rice for the last couple of weeks and it went perfectly with last night’s main course.  I created this recipe (it’s pretty basic) by combining a plain jane CLR rice recipe with parts of a delicious Spanish Rice recipe and it worked out perfectly.  The onions, garlic, and chicken broth give it a nice savory flavor (not just white rice with lime poured over it).

Cilantro Lime Rice
from the kitchen of Erin Grotegut

2 Cups rice (I used Calrose)
3 Cups chicken broth
1/4 C white onion, finely diced
3 Tbs butter
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 Tbs lime juice
1/4 C cilantro, finely chopped

1) Melt 2 Tbs of butter in a stock pot, add rice and onions and coat rice with melted butter, saute for a few mins until onions are near translucent, but not brown.  Add in garlic and saute until it smells very aromatic, being careful not to burn the garlic.

2) Add salt, 2 Tbs lime juice, and chicken broth to pan.  Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 15 mins.   Let sit covered for 5 mins.

3) Just before serving add in the remaining 2 Tbs of lime juice and the cilantro.. toss together and serve hot.

 

There you go! A super easy and  perfect “I want summer here” dinner. Enjoy!