Gotta Love Fridays!

Its so fun to actually have a day home and time to try out some new recipes.  I've had these on my  'gotta try' list for awhile now.  I love the combination of lime and garlic on chicken so this one seemed like a natural to me.  The only substitution I'm making is fructose for the sugar.  (just cause I'm not supposed to have sugar yet on my maintenance diet)  Normally, I don't think I would worry about that little bit of sugar in a marinade.  I am also cutting the recipe in half for the two of us.
      The cauliflower and cabbage recipe just sounded like a fun one to try. Sides are something I've never been too creative with so I've really been searching for some interesting sounding veggie recipes.  There are a couple more that I've just found that will be coming soon.  Anyway, I picked this particular one since I have just lately discovered that I like cabbage and, of course, cauliflower is always a favorite. It sounds like this one is not something you can just throw together in a hurry, but, that's the beauty of a FRIDAY at home! (YEA!!)
     Oh, shoot!  It helps if you READ the recipe before you jump in.  I just blithely mixed up all the ingredients in the recipe, added the chicken and put it in the fridge.  THEN realized that only the lime juice and garlic should be in the marinade.  The rest of the ingredients are to be rubbed onto the chicken before you grill it.  Hmmm.. well, this should be interesting.  Yeah, I'm thinkin' this could either be really good or really bad.  In that case, this recipe will go on the 'try again' list. Sheesh. Hate it when I do stuff like this!  Crossing my fingers here.

Craig's Lime-Grilled Chicken

1 chicken, 3-1/2 lb, cut in half, skin removed
3 cups fresh lime juice
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T sugar
2 T salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
Put the chicken, the lime juice and the garlic in a plastic bag and seal it. Place in a bowl in the refrigerator and marinate for 4 - 6 hours, turning the bag over every hour or two. Drain the chicken and pat dry.

Mix the sugar, salt, cayenne, cumin and paprika and rub the mixture over the chicken.
Grill chicken 25 - 30 minutes on a medium-hot charcoal fire, with some hardwood chunks added for smoke, with the grill lid closed. Turn once. Chicken should have an internal temperature of 160º when served.
[I accidentally combined ALL the ingredients as a marinade and it turned out fantastic!  I may try the rub another time though just to see if it really is better.]

Pureed Cauliflower and Cabbage with Green Onions and Parmesan

(Makes 4-6 side dish servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

1/2 large head green cabbage, core cut out and cabbage chopped
1 1/2 T olive oil
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 large head cauliflower, core cut out and cauliflower chopped
1/2 cup finely sliced green onions (scallions)
2 cups chicken stock (or more as needed to cover the vegetables in the pot)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (plus more to sprinkle on top for serving if desired) [next time I will leave out]
I added a handful slivered almonds for crunch

Heat olive oil in large heavy pot, add chopped cabbage, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and saute cabbage over medium-low heat until it's cooked through and starting to brown, about 15 minutes. Stir it every once in a while so it doesn't get overly brown in some parts. Add sliced green onions and cook about 5 minutes more, until onions are softened.

Add chopped cauliflower, pour over enough chicken stock to cover the vegetables, and simmer until the cauliflower is very soft, probably close to 30 minutes at a low simmer.

Mash the ingredients together with a potato masher. You can keep the coarse texture this produces if you prefer, or use an immersion blender or food processor to puree into a finer texture. (Be careful with the hot liquid if you use a food processor.)

Turn heat back on under the mashed or pureed vegetable mixture in the pan and cook an additional 5-10 minutes on medium heat, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Then stir in the finely grated Parmesan cheese, 2 T at a time so the cheese is well-combined in the mixture. Serve hot, with additional Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top if desired.  Sprinkle with almonds for crunch.

*******
These were both winners!  Bill and I loved them.  There is only one thing we would change- although we both loved the Cabbage Cauliflower Puree. we thought the Parmesan cheese didn't quite work.  Next time we will leave that out.  But, it was a really terrific dish- even though it is totally made up of favorable vegetables, it was a wonderful fill in for a starch. I didn't miss having potatoes.  Very satisfying!