Salsa Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Salsa is a very versatile ingredient to use when cooking.  It is generally a healthy alternative to some of the other options used to season food.  The salsa stuffed chicken breast is a very simple dish that turns out wonderful on the grill.

Ingredients:

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salsa
Monetary Jack Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Toothpicks

Butterfly the chicken breasts by slicing them almost in half along one side.  Open the Chicken and spoon in your favorite salsa.  I typically use something special like a Peach Salsa or Salsa Grande for a good bite.  Place a slice of cheese atop the salsa and fold the chicken breast back over itself.  Take two tooth picks and use them to seal the side of the chicken. 

Lightly salt and pepper the wings and place them onto a medium hot grill until they are done.  Do not turn them often as you could lose some of the mixture from the side.

A simple summer salad for the backyard parties...

Have you ever been invited to a backyard party and need to come up with a cool summer dish that isn't like all of the others, but you don't have a lot of time to make it?  Here is a simple idea that always gets great reviews for us and is so simple to make.

Ingredients:

Broccoli    1 lb
Cauliflower    1 head
Carrots     1 lb
Chipotle Ranch Dressing

Cut the veggies into bite size pieces and mix with the Chipotle Ranch Dressing.  Toss veggies to coat and chill.  It is about as easy as it gets.  The dish has a lot of color and plenty of flavor. 

June 19th is National Dry Martini Day

This Saturday is National Dry Martini Day.  While a dry martini is simple to make. 

Recipe:
1 2/3 oz gin
1/3 oz dy vermouth
Garnish
 
 
It has become the garnish that has become as much of a decision as what type of gin to use.  The classic garnish is a cocktail olive or a green olive, but what happens when you add stuffed green olives to the mix.  There are varieties of things you can use to stuff an olive with.  Some of them include Bleu Cheese, hot peppers such as habanero or jalapenos, garlic cloves, or nuts such as almonds.  Each of these add a unique flavor to the martini and change the taste. 
 
For a dirty martini, try adding some of the brine the olives are packed in to the cocktail.  If the olives have been packed in the brine or have set for sufficient time, the brine wil have the flavors of the olives and what they were packed in.  This is especially true for the hot pepper stuffed olives. 
 
Don't be afraid to experiment and enjoy.