Garlic Chicken

So I am a fan of simple dishes that taste good.  This one is one that I tried, modified, and promptly lost the recipe and I tried to recreate it from memory.  This is a work in progress.

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds chicken thighs or drumsticks
1 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup peanut oil (I don't know if it is necessary)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
minced garlic (I use from a jar)

directions:
preheat oven to 375°F (convection oven) or 400°F (conventional)
Arrange the chicken in an oven-safe baking dish (I use a 9X13 inch glass type), so that the chicken is not touching. Use 2 dishes if needed.
Smear a small (1/4t) amount of minced garlic on the top of each chicken piece
mix the red wine vinegar, peanut oil and garlic powder in a separate bowl,
Continually stir the mixture while spooning it on each piece of chicken, I spoon two or three on each chicken until I run out.
Cover the dish in tinfoil for the first 30min
Cook until the chicken is well cooked - clear liquid when pierced, or use a thermometer.

This time, the chicken wasn't completely thawed, I left it in the refrigerator overnight to defrost.  It took over an hour and 10min to cook completely.

Serve with steamed broccoli.

I had a dream and it involved Chicken, Avocado, and Lime. So, it's not very surprising that the next day I was on Google looking up recipes that included those 3, and was dairy free. And I was successful, finding this recipe at myrecipes. So here it is, with a few tweaks that I did, and a few more I plan to the next time I make this.

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Ingredients

• Chicken
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (I think dried would work just as well)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

 Salsa

• 1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•  2 avocado, peeled and finely chopped

Preparation

1. To prepare chicken: Pound chicken to about 1/2-3/4 inch thickness. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and marinate several hours or preferably over night. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Grill on your barbeque grill.
2. To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken. Might want to double the amount of salsa, as it is incredibly yummy.

Now on the myrecipes site, they pictured this as being served over rice. But in going with another person's comments about this recipe we tried it over lightly seasoned spaghetti squash. WOW! There were no leftovers, our girls were loving it!

Bake you spaghetti squash, halve it, scrape out seeds, fluff flesh to look lie spaghetti, season with a small amount of margarine, onion (powder or minced), garlic (powdered or minced), salt and pepper.

I wish I had remembered to take a picture, so in your mind see a plate, generous serving of squash, chicken breast on top, and then beautiful salsa over all of that.

This is a little bit of a pricier meal, and is best in Spring/Summer time. Enjoy!!