Hi,
I need to make dinner for a dozen family members visiting from all over and, since we have at least two strict vegetarians, my initial thought was to just order a large tray of amazing spinach enchiladas that a local restaurant makes and then make a grilled vegetable salad, black beans, some guacamole, and maybe a quinoa pilaf to accompany.
Now it turns out some of the guests are on paleo diets, so I thought I’d keep the existing menu, switch to a cauliflower rice pilaf, and try grilling some marinated boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I figured chicken thighs are always pretty forgiving.
I’m a solid cook but have little grilling experience. Does anyone have a really delicious, relatively fool-proof boneless chicken thigh recipe with Southwestern/Mexican flavors? Ideally it would be something I could stick in the marinade the day before and grill before dinner.
Thank you!
You’re a very kind host to incorporate their diets.
The green chile adobo in this Rick Bayless recipe is great with chicken - increase the quantity to use half as marinade and serve the rest alongside.
https://www.rickbayless.com/taco-tues...
And this easy marinade from Julia Turshen is more than the sum of its parts - you could swap in cilantro for parsley and add some cumin.
http://www.thejoyfulhomeblog.com/reci...
If you’re unsure about the grill, just oven roast the chicken at a low temp, and finish under the broiler (or on the grill) for color.
I would marinate in adobo, then re-dip the thighs in the adobo used to marinade .5 way through grilling, and finish it off. Them as saregama suggests, unused adobo on the side.
I like to use a greek sort of blend.
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoons basil (dried)
1 tablespoons dill (dried)
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoons onion flakes
2 tablespoons oregano
1 tablespoons parsley (dried)
1 tablespoons rosemary (dried)
1/2 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 tablespoons marjoram
1 tablespoons salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon nutmeg
I use this alot, so I make my own; but there are good pre-prepped ones out there.
So, coat chicken with some oil and a bit of vinegar, then rub on this seasoning, try to grill on medium-high heat. On my grill, that means full heat, then lid on, but lid vent open. Some folks can't handle the peppery/cilantro side of the adobo; so this might be an option.
Thank you, saregama, Klocke, and BigG. Adobo it is! Will post and let you know how it went. I really appreciate the help.
We entertain guests almost every weekend during the summer, and each weekend is like a puzzle trying to accommodate everyone's particular taste buds. Since we almost always spend the day out on my boat (half of the reason we get so many visitors :>)), there's not a lot of time to cook when we get home, so I usually end up grilling some proteins and veg while my wife prepares and sets out the appys and side dishes.
I've found that grilling every very plainly, just seasoned with salt and pepper, then serving it with a few sauces seems to be able to accommodate everyone. (Vegetarians get grilled sweet onions, corn on the cob, red bell peppers, and a Caprese salad stuffed portabellas)
But, for plainly grilled chicken or lamb, I like to serve side sauces such as tsatsiki, Herbs de Provence infused sour cream, BBQ, gorgonzola cream, roasted tomato and feta, honey mustard aioli, or my fave - Stonewall Kitchens Curried Mango sauce.
Besides the BBQ and Curried Mango sauces - which come in a jar or bottle - I make the other sauces a day or two ahead.
I often have to encourage everyone to try the different sauces, but once they do, everyone seems to eat well and go home full and happy.
It seems like you have a plan with the adobo, ninm, but I figured that this was just food for thought for future dinners.
I love this idea, buckytom. I wondered how it would be if I just seasoned the chicken and threw it on the grill. I like the several sauces and the portabellas stuffed with caprese, too. Let’s see if I can find decent serranos (no luck so far). If not, I’m going to borrow your idea. Now all I need is a boat I...
Rick Bayless' Green Chile Adobo is amazing. I'd marinate the chicken thighs in that and keep some on the side as a possible topping. Leftovers are great on roasted vegetables, hardboiled eggs, in scrambled eggs, etc.
Hello! Just wanted you to know the chicken grilling went great. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t take pictures, but it came out beautifully, just like on the grilling shows. Thanks so much for the recommendation, saregama. And thanks to you for all the input and advice, Klocke, BigG, buckytom, and Njchicaa. The Home Cooking board is the main reason I come back to Chowhound. Such a wonderful, smart, generous group of people.
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