So I love warm, sunny weather. And I love BBQ. But oddly enough, I have yet to BBQ anything on an outdoor grill by myself. And the reason for this…I’m deathly afraid of outdoor grills! Not because these things are evil or scary, but because I’m one hot tranny mess of a klutz and I just don’t trust myself to operate an outdoor grill alone. Hence this recipe is a baked BBQ chicken recipe. If anyone wants to come over and make this recipe on my outdoor grill, I’d be more than happy to have you! And if you’re wondering why the heck I even own an outdoor grill — my friend Matt convinced me to get one a few years ago when we had an impromptu BBQ on my deck…I haven’t used it since. 
OK, before we jump into the recipe, let’s chat briefly about the pre-cooking magic that went into this. To get uber tender and flavorful chicken legs, I soaked them in this basic brine solution for about 2 hours (note: when brining, you want enough liquid to completely cover all your meat):
- 2 quarts water
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 granulated sugar
- 4-6 cloves of garlic (smashed, to release flavor into the brine)
You can be creative with this brine by adding in any other herbs or aromatics. I kept it simple since I was going to coat these leggies in some finger-lickin’ good BBQ sauce. That said, here is the rest of the recipe. On deck for tomorrow: slow-cooked pulled pork sandwiches w/ coleslaw and sweet potato fries.
Baked BBQ chicken legs w/ potato salad
serves 4-6, depending on how hungry you are
BBQ chicken
- 2 lb chicken legs (or any other part – I just heart legs!), skin on
- 2 cups homemade BBQ sauce (more or less depending on your preference)
- Minced scallions to garnish
Potato salad
- 2 lb red potatoes, diced into 1-inch cubes
- 1 cup chopped scallions
- 1 cup chopped celery heart
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup homemade honey-dill vinaigrette
Preheat oven to 375-degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Remove chicken legs from brine solution and pat dry; arrange in one layer on cookie sheet. Using a pastry brush, brush first layer of BBQ sauce onto chicken. Bake for 15-30 mins while basting with additional BBQ sauce. Turn chicken legs over, baste with more BBQ sauce and cook for additional 15-30 mins or until internal temperature reaches 180-degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Meanwhile, boil potatoes until fork tender, about 10-12 mins. Drain and add scallion, celery and honey-dill vinaigrette. Toss together until well incorporated; season with salt and pepper. When chicken legs are done, garnish with minced scallions.
Baked Bbq Chicken Legs
Potato Salad W/ Honey-Dill Dressing
Posted in Poultry, Recipes, Side Dishes
Tagged baked bbq chicken, barbecue, barbecue chicken, barbecue chicken recipe, barbecue sauce, BBQ, bbq chicken, bbq chicken recipe, BBQ sauce, brined bbq chicken, chicken recipe, potato salad, Recipes, Summer recipes
When my coworker asked me to house-sit for her this weekend, the first thing that came to mind was, “I’m gonna cook my heart out in her big kitchen.” And I did just that – it was a welcomed change from my tiny excuse for a kitchen in my 1-bedroom apartment.
Since the weather was absolutely gorgeous this weekend, my friend Missy and I decided to fire up the grill and recreate this Taste of Home chicken recipe we first tried during our mini-vacay in Eastern Washington last summer.
We modified the recipe a bit by using mangoes in the relish since we didn’t have any peaches on hand. I have to say, I actually prefer the mangoes – I’ve been on a mango kick ever since I discovered the champagne mangoes at Sosio’s in Pike Place Market a few weeks ago.
We rounded out the meal with some grilled corn on the cob, potato salad and ice-cold Hawaiian beer. YUM! This simple and super flavorful meal is a definite crowd-pleaser and perfect for those warm summer nights. If you end up with any left over relish, it tastes amazing the next day as a standalone salad.
Spicy grilled chicken w/ mango-pepper relish
Serves 4
Chicken
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp each ground cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 ounces each)
Glaze
- 1/4 cup apricot preserves
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Relish
- 1 medium mango, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
- 1/3 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
- 1-2 green onion, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp minced fresh mint
Combine the salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg; rub over chicken.
In a small bowl, combine the glaze ingredients; set aside.
In another small bowl, combine the mango, peppers, onion, mint and 2 Tbsp glaze; set aside.
Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170°, basting frequently with reserved glaze. Serve with reserved relish.
Last weekend I had one of those “use-up-existing-ingredients-to-make-a-meal” moments, which turned out very successful, if I say so myself. I decided to put a little twist to the traditional chicken salad sandwich by adding a few “special” ingredients and serving it in lettuce cups. The almonds add a little crunch and the sweetness of the grapes brings extra flavor to the dish. And as you may remember from my post about deviled eggs, mayo and I are not friends so I always use plain Greek-style yogurt instead. This recipe really couldn’t be any easier and it’s a healthier (but still delicious!) alternative to a classic comfort food.
Almond-Grape Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
Makes about 2.5 cups of chicken salad
- 1 cup cooked chicken breast, diced (or you can shred a rotisserie chicken)
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 1/2 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
- 3 Tbsp red grapes, halved
- 2 Tbsp slivered almonds
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp yellow mustard (or to taste)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Serve scoops of the mixture in lettuce cups (or endive spears would work well, too). Garnish with additional slivered almonds on top. Leftovers of the mixture can be used in a sandwich or served with crackers as a quick snack the next day.
Almond-Grape Chicken Salad
Happy Friday, everyone! All week long, I was looking forward to a low-key, relaxing weekend since this would be the first one in a while where I didn’t have a bunch of things going on. THEN mid-day today, a huge wrench was thrown into the mix…in the form of a very exciting opportunity, which I wish to keep hush-hush for the time being so I don’t jinx myself . So anyhoo, now I’ll be spending my weekend trying to get all the bits and pieces together for this “project” (I promise to fill you all in on the details at a later time) since I’ve got a very short turn around time.
Needless to say, I didn’t have the energy or mindset to make an elaborate dinner tonight. So I took inventory of the items in my fridge and pantry and decided to make a favorite quick go-to recipe: Chicken with Lemon-Caper Sauce from Allrecipes.com. This recipe is beyond simple, yet full of so much great flavor. Note: if the sauce is too sour or tangy for your liking, try swapping the white wine out for chicken broth to mellow out the flavor. This dish goes really well with some whole wheat pasta or — my personal preference — some couscous (I like to chop up some mint and mix it in as well).
Chicken with Lemon-Caper Sauce
Serves 4
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 (6 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (or chicken broth)
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup capers, drained
- 4 lemon wedges
Mix together salt and flour in a small dish or plastic bag, then coat chicken and shake off excess. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Shake excess flour from chicken, then brown in hot oil until both sides are golden-brown, and the inside has turned white and firm, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
Remove the chicken, and set aside in a warm place. Pour white wine into the skillet, and allow to boil as you dissolve the cooked bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the lemon juice, and allow to come to a boil, cook for a few minutes until reduced by half.
Sprinkle the cubed butter into the boiling sauce. Swirl and shake the pan vigorously to dissolve the butter, thus thickening the sauce. The butter must never come to rest, or the sauce will separate and become oily. Once the butter has completely incorporated, remove from heat and stir in capers.
To serve, pour lemon-caper sauce over the chicken, and serve with a wedge of lemon.
