Honey Orange Grilled Chicken

Seasonal & Pantry

The seasonal side:

Do you have makeshift orange street vendors on your city sidewalks? Here in Southern Utah the orange guy is hawking oranges all winter. They bring them from warmer climates. But the truth is oranges are cheap and delicious in January. I bought a giant box that was starting to go bad and so I juiced some of my oranges. For some reason the juice was a little bitter; must have been some pith that got into the juice. Anyway. I had orange juice to use. You don't have to use fresh orange juice for this recipe but maybe you have a lot of oranges sitting on your counter this winter too.

From the Pantry

Honey is one of my vital pantry items. It is always stocked on my shelves. I have found so many uses for this versatile ingredient from cold remedy to desserts. It is such a tasty flavoring for main dishes as well. 

Soy Sauce is also an important pantry staple. I often use it at least once a week. 

I borrowed the original recipe from Taste of Home. I did not, however, grill my chicken over a grill. Too cold outside. I also used chicken tenders, which are my chicken of choice over breasts most days. They cook faster and are more tender and juicy. 

The Recipe: Requires at least 4 hours of marinating time.

Abt 12-14 Chicken tenders or 8 chicken breasts

1/2 Cup of orange juice

1/3 Cup of honey

1/4 Cup of Soy Sauce

1/4 Cup of lemon juice

2 TB of grated or minced fresh ginger ( I keep my ginger root in the freezer for months. And just take it out when I need it. I minced it while still frozen)

12 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp of pepper.

Combine all ingredients except chicken tenders in a freezer bag. Close and mix together. Add chicken and close bag and marinate for 4 to 8 hours. 

On a hot griddle or grill pan heat a 1/2 TB of olive oil. Grill Chicken about 3 minutes per side. Until browned and cooked through.

Tip: A tasty side dish for this entree is roasted cauliflower.

 

Favorite Cold/Cough Remedy

It's sore throat, coughing season. I have one daughter that has serious coughing issues and frankly I get sick of pouring disgusting tasting cough syrups down her throat that may or may not work. Recently we tried this home remedy and she found such relief from it that we stopped using the cough medicine at night. When my other kids get the sore throat and cough they ask for this drink because it truly soothes their throat and calms the coughing fits.


Plus it doesn't make them gag and it is all natural. They actually enjoy this Honey Lemon Water. We went through a whole thing of honey just on this drink already -- which is why honey should ALWAYS be in your food storage in the winter.

3 ingredients.

1 TB Lemon Juice

1 TB Honey 

and

1 Cup hot water.

Stir lemon and honey into hot water.

Sip slowly.

Honey Bees and Recipes

Do you store honey in your pantry -- I am talking more than that bear shaped honey jar. Well you should. Honey is amazing. It can be stored forever and it is so healthy and useful for so many things.

There is a trend to buy local honey or harvest your own honey sweeping through Utah where I live. Can you buy local honey where you live? At my Southern Utah magazine this month we did a story on honey and beekeeping. I am a little fascinated with beekeepers. I wish I was brave enough and had enough time to start such a cool hobby. But my favorite part of the story is the recipes submitted by Southern Utah cooks.

I test ran a couple of them and can't wait to try the rest. I loved the swope bread which is basically the easiest bread ever and relies on staple pantry items. My kids are addicted to the EASY granola recipe submitted by beekeepers and the honey cinnamon butter is seriously sabotaging my diet.

Go, honey lovers, go take a look at these delicious recipes.

http://www.aliveutah.com/content/honey-trends-and-recipes

I am including the honey butter recipe from my SIL and amazing food blogger http://eatthehughesfoodblogspot.com


Honey Cinnamon Butter

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) VERY softened.
1/3 Cup sweetened condensed milk - chilled in the fridge
1 tsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon to taste
Directions:
In a mixer or with a hand mixer whip the softened butter until smooth and creamy. Add in remaining ingredients one by one. Whip mixture on high speed scraping down sides until it is all incorporated.
Refrigerate until ready to use. Remove to allow it to soften approx. an hour before you need it.. dependant upon the temperature in your kitchen. The texture of this butter with the condensed milk does allow it to spread even when chilled, however for the best creamy and smooth Texas Roadhouse effect allow it to soften before use.
Serve with fresh hot rolls.