Olive Oil Lime-Garlic Marinade

This is for you Lyndzee! :)

This is an easy delicious marinade that can be used on any meat, fish, or veggies. Last night I marinated chicken and veggies, cooked them in a skillet, and served them over brown rice. It was quite yummy!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Marinate time: 4 hours to overnight

RECIPE TIP: This marinade can be made quickly in a blender or food processor, or if desired, mince garlic and combine with the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Use it to marinate meat or your favorite fresh summer vegetables.

Ingredients
2 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil (I used less)
1/3 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons grated lime peel
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
In blender or food processor, with machine running, add garlic. Add remaining ingredients. Process until blended; scraping down sides, if necessary. Pour marinade into bowl or plastic food storage bag. Add about 2 pounds meat or 4 to 5 cups vegetables; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate**. Marinate 4 hours to overnight. Grill or broil meat. Serve vegetables with slotted spoon.

Makes about 1 cup marinade

**If desired, vegetables can be marinated at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.

Instant Potato Crusted Fish/Chicken

I know you've been on pins and needles waiting for another way to utilize those instant potatoes. Who needs breadcrumbs!!

• 1 lb white fish filet or chicken
• 1/2 cup instant potatoes
• 1/4 cup grated parmesean/romano cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic
• salt & black pepper to taste
• optional: 1 egg or a few tbsp mayonnaise
  
• plastic baggie or shallow bowl
  

1. Preheat oven to 400F (205C).
2. Grease a glass baking dish or use a non-stick baking dish.
3. Mix all the ingredients together in the baggie or shallow bowl.
4. Wet your fish or chicken. You can use a gluing agent such as a beaten egg or mayonnaise to help the batter stick to the meat. Then put one piece at a time into the crust mix and coat thoroughly.
5. Put the meat into your baking dish.
6. Bake the fish or chicken until it is cooked thoroughly (20 min for boneless chicken, 40min for bone-in chicken, 30-40 min for thick fish filet)

If you're more of a skillet person than baker, just put a little cooking oil in the skillet and go to town. Heats up the house a little less and your food is finished faster. There's also the grilling option.

Turkey Burgers -- with Instant Potatoes

Yet another use for instant potatoes: a way to stretch hamburger meat a bit further. My picky eater prefers anything with onions and garlic, so you can adjust those ingredients down to your preference. He often doesn't notice that it's turkey burgers, though, because the flavor is sufficiently good. I usually eyeball quantities, but paid close attention today to give a good estimate of quantities. Fresh herbs are always preferable (this group comes in a pack together called "poultry herbs" back home), but dried works nicely too (just rub the dried leaves a bit before tossing them in to release their flavors).

1 lb ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 onion diced fine
3 cloves garlic minced/diced fine
1/2 cup instant potatoes
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp dried rosemary (3 sprigs fresh chopped fine)
1 tbsp dried sage (2 sprigs fresh chopped fine)
1 tbsp dried thyme (1 handful fresh leaves pulled off stalks)
black pepper/salt to taste

1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients really well.
2. Separate the meat into burgers. You should be able to get five (5) respectable sized burgers out of this mixture.
3. I usually store individual burgers in resealable bags in the freezer to offer meal flexibility, however in Grenada the freezer is so humid that the bags quickly freeze to the walls and are difficult to remove. So here I put them in leftover containers, with burgers separated by foil or plastic wrap.