A recipe and some pirates.

Ok - so I promised to include a sort of Moroccan / Mediterranean-inspired chicken dish that I tried and loved earlier this week. It is actually a garlic-lime chicken with olives, dates - a sweet and salty marinade, so... like I said, a Moroccan shortcut of sorts. Anyway - good with rice. Here goes:

1 - 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup diced onion
2 to 3 gloves minced garlic
2 t bsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp molasses
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 cup sliced pitted Kalamata olives
1/4 cup sliced dates (optional)
Cooking spray or light swash of cooking oil (optional)

As you can see (above), this chicken can be made ahead of time for later use in salads, etc. - in a rolled pita - also one of those meals that tastes better next day (this was all communicated to me in this recipe exchange where I got it, and it is all true :-) - which.... is why you can use 3 lbs. chicken or just 1 lb. I actually found that if you make the smaller portion, the marinade barely coats it, so... you made need to add to marinade for the 3 lbs. Also, the molasses really makes it sweet, so... I would watch the amt. on that and, instead, pump up the lime a bit or the saltiness in some way.

Anyway - combine the first 10 ingredients in a bowl (yes, that includes the chicken) - toss it up to coat - then, transfer to a large roasting pan (and you can coat it up with oil - I didn't to lower the fat a bit, and it didn't stick at all - though I did use a Pyrex lasagne pan instead for the reason) - go ahead and pour remaining marinade on top (if there is any), sprinkle top with olives and dates, and pop in the oven - cook 30 - 35 min. at 400 degrees (though, I always cook chicken a little longer to be sure it is done, and this marinade really keeps the chicken moist - and... because of the sweet, salty, peppery mix going on - you could experiment with some coriander, cinnamon, etc.). Easy and really good.

So ... today, Enzo has a pirate / princess birthday party. I will be accompanying him since hubby threatened to dress as a Somali pirate and go in a pair of tattered shorts, no shirt, sunglasses and machine gun (tad inappropriate, Dear - and, while these guys are not funny - poverty - stricken drugged up dangerous teenagers, I did find it amusing that they had tried to overtake a US Navy ship a few weeks back. We happened to be in an area heavily populated with military at the time, and the headline on the paper read something like, "Pirates - What Were You Thinking?" Hmmm..... :-). Afterwards, I'll need some down time - might Hulu Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and relax :-). Tired these days - lots of work, lots of kid activity ... just "lots", Anyway, I will be going (and I do love my time with Enzo - he responds so well to one on one time with a parent -though I love all my one on one time with ALL my kids - so rare :-), and Enzo will look something like the photo (from last year) that I've included (since that is the shirt he has chosen to wear - with sash, hat and dagger, of course :-).