McDreamy and some McChicken ;)

Last night I came home with a plan. My husband had to work late, so I decided to make a nice dinner he could have when he got home. Plus, I was pretty hungry and didn't just want a sandwich. I decided to make Balsamic Grilled Chicken and Herb Roasted Potatoes with a cilantro dipping sauce. I made good use of my time and went for a run/walk around the neighborhood while the chicken was marinating. I suggest at least 30 minutes of marinating, but longer is ok too. This meal sort of cooks itself, once the prep is done, so you'll have time to do other things like empty and load the dishwasher. Or if you are like me, you can get everything ready to watch the season premier of Grey's Anatomy. Yeah, McDreamy.....anyway, more about the food. :)

Following are the recipes from last night's dinner. I just kind of threw together the idea of the marinade. The potatoes are a take on Rachel Ray's oven fries. The cilantro dipping sauce is from a cilantro potato salad I recently made and loved. I thought just making it as a sauce would be great on the herb roasted potatoes. Honestly, it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I'd just as soon have ranch dressing. But if you really like cilantro, you should try it.

Balsamic Grilled Chicken

3 boneless chicken breasts

2 TBSP balsamic vinegar

2 cloves pressed garlic

½ TBSP onion powder

½ TBSP ground ginger

2 dashes cayenne pepper

½ TBSP fresh chopped basil

1 tsp sea salt

4 TBSP olive oil (or any other light colored oil you have in the cabinet)

Mix vinegar and all the spices/herbs together in a medium sized bowl. Whisk in oil. Add chicken breasts and turn several times to make sure they are covered well. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let marinate at least 30 minutes. Then grill until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

Herb Roasted Potatoes

2 large red potatoes, sliced

1 - 1 ½ TBSP toasted sesame oil (you could also use olive oil, I just like the nutty flavor sesame oil adds)

Rosemary (dried)

Dill (dried)

Thyme (dried)

Sea salt

Black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place sliced potatoes on cookie sheet. I prefer one with a lip so that things don’t go sliding off when I remove it from the oven. (Yes, I am accident prone when I cook) Drizzle the toasted sesame oil over the potatoes and use your hands to toss. Make sure the potatoes are well covered in the oil. Sprinkle the dried herbs, salt and pepper over the potatoes. I didn’t put amounts in the recipe because you just make it to your liking. I am pretty liberal with mine because I like a lot of herb flavor on the potatoes. Toss the potatoes again to make sure they have herbs on all sides, then spread out on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes (depending on how thick you sliced your potatoes) turning the potatoes ½ way through cooking.

Cilantro Dipping Sauce

1 TBSP sour cream

1 TBSP mayonnaise

1 handful fresh cilantro

1 tsp salt

1 dash of cayenne pepper (you can add more if you like things spicy. My husband does not)

Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until everything is incorporated and the cilantro is finely chopped.

This ended up being a really great dinner. I started cooking around 6:45 and was done eating in time to watch Grey's at 8:00. Not bad, huh? In honor of last night's premier, I will leave you with a quote from the first episode of Grey's Anatomy Season 4.

"Change; we don’t like it, we fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. And it hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn’t is lying. But heres the truth: the more things change, the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes change is good. Oh, sometimes, change is ... everything." - Grey's Anatomy