Grilled Chicken Thighs with Mandarin Orange Glaze

Simple grilled chicken takes on tasty new meaning with a sweet, rich, and very orangey glaze to complement the smokiness of the thighs. It’s so easy to make—the key is giving it time to reduce. The glaze starts out very runny, then cooks down to a wonderful, glossy, sticky consistency—it stays put on the bird!

Tip: Rubbing the grill grate with oil once it's hot (and just before adding the chicken) ensures the meat won’t stick when you turn it.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup drained mandarin oranges (from an 11-oz can, in juice or light syrup—3 tbsp reserved)
• 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
• olive or vegetable oil, for rubbing grill grate
• 8 medium-sized chicken thighs (about 3 lbs total), skin removed

Drained Oranges and Juice

Preparation

1. Light a grill for medium heat.
2. Place the mandarin oranges and garlic in a mini food processor and pulse until emulsified.
3. Heat a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Transfer the mandarin orange mixture to the pan and stir in the honey, vinegar, and reserved juice or syrup. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a light simmer and cook until reduced and thickened, 13-15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped rosemary. Let stand while the chicken grills.

Ready to Process

Emulsified Oranges 

Beginning to Cook 

Cooked Glaze

1. Rub the grill grate with oil. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and grill, turning several times (and covering the grill to prevent flare-ups), until golden brown and cooked through, 25-30 minutes, depending on size. 
2. About 3 minutes before the chicken is done, brush the thighs with most of the glaze.

Seasoned Thighs 

Beginning to Grill 

After 1st Turn

Grilled Thighs

Glaze Added

Transfer the chicken to a board or platter and let rest 5 minutes before serving. Brush with the remaining glaze and serve.

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Mandarin Orange Glaze

Summer Vegetable and Cheese Pie

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This hearty vegetarian pie is loaded with the flavors of summer—and plenty of cheese. Peppers, fresh corn, summer squash, scallions, sweet tomatoes, mmmm. And when you add the cheesy, salty bite of asiago along with creamy provolone and ricotta, you’ve got a rich, flavorful pie to celebrate the season. You won’t miss the meat.

Tip: Removing the kernels from an ear of corn is easy. Stand the ear in a shallow bowl and gently scrape down the sides just beneath the kernels with a large, sharp knife. Take it slowly so that the kernels land in the bowl, not on the walls.

For potpies that aren’t so vegetarian, check out Skillet Chicken Potpie with Fresh Herbs and Spinach and Smoked Salmon Pie.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

•  olive oil for oiling skillet
• 1 14.1-oz package refrigerated piecrusts (2 crusts)
• 1 cup coarsely shredded asiago cheese
• 1/2 cup coarsely shredded provolone cheese
• 1/2 cup mixed, chopped red and green bell pepper (or all red)
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• fresh corn kernels from 1 large ear
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 very small zucchini, thinly sliced (1/8-inch)
• 1 very small yellow squash, thinly sliced (1/8-inch)
• 2 large roma tomatoes, thinly sliced (1/8-inch) and patted dry with paper towels
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg white, whisked

Provolone, Asiago, and Ricotta

Pie Vegetables

Yellow Squash and Zucchini

Pat tomato slices dry

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Lightly oil a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and place 1 piecrust in the bottom, pressing gently against the sides.

In a bowl, toss together the asiago and provolone cheeses. In another bowl, combine the bell pepper, scallions, corn, and ricotta.

Ready to Fill

Peppers, Scallions, and Corn

Ricotta Added

Scatter 1/3 of the asiago and provolone mixture over the piecrust. Top with half the zucchini slices and half the yellow squash slices, mixing vegetables throughout the layer. (Overlap as needed, but don't double-stack. Save any remaining vegetables for later use.)

Spread half the ricotta mixture on top, then top with half the tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper.

Scatter another 1/3 of the asiago and provolone mixture over the tomatoes and repeat the layering, ending with the remaining 1/3 asiago and provolone mixture on top.

Top with the remaining piecrust, crimping the edges around the border. Make crisscross cuts in the top crust and brush with egg white.

Bake 40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.

Asiago and Provolone

Squash Layer

Ricotta Mixture

Tomato Layer

Ready to Bake

Baked Pie

Transfer the skillet to a wire rack and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Summer Vegetable and Cheese Pie

Shrimp Cakes with Creamy Lemon-Herb Sauce

Crab cakes, salmon cakes, any kind of fish cakes—all good. But don’t leave shrimp off the table. Literally. Coarsely chopped shrimp combined with a couple binding ingredients (panko and egg yolk) and brightened with a little lemon zest and Dijon mustard are all it takes to produce sweet, beautiful, little cakes that cook up golden brown and taste just as good as they look.

But they still need a bit of dressing. I think a creamy, fresh lemon-and-herb-spiked sauce is just the thing to complement the briny shrimp. Mmmm.  

Makes 6 cakes

Ingredients

For the Sauce

• 2 tbsp low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp sour cream
• 2 tsp finely chopped dill weed
• 1 tsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped lemon zest
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper 

For the Shrimp Cakes

• 3/4 lb peeled, deveined medium shrimp, chopped
• 1/3 cup panko (or other fine, dry breadcrumbs)
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• 1 large egg yolk, whisked
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Chopped Shrimp

Preparation

For the Sauce

• Whisk the first 6 ingredients (through lemon zest) in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Sauce Ready to Combine

Creamy Lemon-Herb Sauce

For the Shrimp Cakes

1. Combine the shrimp and next 5 ingredients (through mustard) in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into 6 1-inch-thick cakes.
2. Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil, swirling to coat the entire bottom of the pan.
3. Cook the cakes until golden brown on the bottom, 3-4 minutes. Turn and cook the other side until golden brown and just cooked through, about 3 minutes longer.

Ready to Mix

Mixture Divided into 6 Portions

Formed Shrimp Cakes

Cakes Beginning to Cook

After Turning

Plate the cakes and serve with lemon-herb sauce on the side.

Shrimp Cakes with Creamy Lemon-Herb Sauce