Five Alive Chicken

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Do you remember that citrus drink in the '80's, Five Alive?  It was a mix of orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit and tangerine juices.  A hodgepodge of citrus, that I hear is still widely available in Canada in the UK.  My parents always had a carton of Five Alive in the fridge.  The liked to drink it and it made a delicious chicken marinade in a pinch.

I was craving some Five Alive Chicken the other night, and set out to recreate the yumminess with juices I had on hand.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup OJ
1/2 cup lemonade
1/2 cup limeade
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp thyme

Mix all the ingredients in a tupperware
Add chicken, seal, and shake
Let sit in fridge overnight (or at least 30 minutes)
Grill to perfection

This could not be an easier - or tastier - way to achieve deliocious grilled chicken.  I had pre-cut my chicken breasts into small pieces before marinating.  They cooked quickly on the grill, and yielded a lot of food for our little family. The chicken is good on its own or paired with whatever you want!

Corn and Black Bean Tortilla Cakes

Prep time:20 min Cook time:15 min

2 cups rinsed and drained canned black beans, patted dry
2 cups fresh corn (removed from 4 ears) or bag of frozen , thawed, drained
2 cups finely chopped red or Vidalia onion
3 cups grated cheddar cheese (12 oz)
3 cups Monteray Jack cheese, grated
18 6-to 7 inch flour tortillas
2 tbsp olive oil

In a bowl, toss together beans, corn and onion. In another bowl, toss together cheeses. Put 6 tortillas in one layer on 2 baking sheets. Sprinkle each tortilla with about 1/3 cup bean mixture and about 1/3 cup cheese mixture and top with a second tortilla. Make another layer on top of each tortilla and end with third tortilla on top of each. Tortilla cakes may be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead and chilled wrapped well in plastic wrap or foil. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush oil over top of each cake. Bakes cakes in middle of oven until golden, about 12-15 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve immediately. (You can make these with another layer, but I don’t find that necessary)

5-Alive Chicken

This is about the easiest recipe on earth for barbecuing chicken!

Chicken: one skinless, boneless breast of chicken per person, or more. Note, this will work equally well with chicken parts -- bone-in breasts with skin, legs, thighs, wings, etc.

Marinade: 5-Alive (brand of juice drink) or similar, enough to cover the chicken in a bowl;
salt/garlic salt and pepper to taste;
minced garlic if you like it (instead of garlic salt);
other herbs (fresh thyme or oregano is really nice) to taste.

Let marinate as long as possible -- a couple of hours at least -- and bring to room temperature before putting the chicken on the grill.

Spray the grill with Pam or brush with olive oil -- take the grill off to do this, don't do it over the heat unless the EMTs are nearby.

Place over medium-hot charcoal or gas grill (let the charcoal burn down just a bit before using).

Grill one side until nice grill marks appear;

turn and sprinkle or brush some of the remaining marinade on top.

Keep turning until done, adding marinade each time, but DON'T OVERCOOK!

Grilled chicken should have juices that run clear, and should not be pink inside, but it is done JUST when the juices run clear.

If you really are ambitious, put the remaining marinade in a small saucepan, dissolve a tablespoon of cornstarch in cold water, add to the marinade, and bring to a boil. Adjust the thickness of the resulting sauce by adding more water or less cornstarch as appropriate. the mnarinade MUST be boiled before eating since the raw chicken has been sitting in it.

This works with lemonade, limeade, orange juice... I haven't tried it with pomegranate but I bet it would be great!