Ben requested Peruvian chicken, and that sounded great to us, especially since Wegmans carries a Peruvian marinade that bypasses the umpteen ingredients needed for a homemade version. We still made a “green sauce” from scratch, and blimey, it was limey! If you like limes (and we do) you can’t go wrong! Often we serve Peruvian chicken with potatoes, but this time we went with cilantro lime rice and beans. Wondering about a salad for a truly balanced meal? Well, why eat your salad when you can drink it? We made watermelon lime mocktails to start our cooking session and enjoyed banana lime coconut muffins for dessert. Rather, some of us enjoyed them while one family member felt that eating a muffin adjacent on the serving tray to a muffin topped with shaved toasted coconut was a tragedy. I mean, he did it, but we’ll be hearing about it for a while. Admittedly, it was the least successful meal component, and I won’t be messing with our standard beloved banana muffin recipe again.
Watermelon Lime Mocktails
2-3 cups watermelon, cubed and frozen
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 liter lime seltzer water
Chili lime seasoning, to taste
In blender, zing the watermelon, lime zest, and juice to desired consistency. Add a splash of water if it is too thick to pour. Pour or spoon into glasses, add lime seltzer water and a dash or two of chili lime seasoning. Stir and enjoy.
Peruvian Chicken
1 jar Peruvian marinade
1 club pack of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs (maybe 4 pounds?)
- Combine marinade and chicken and marinate in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours.
- Grill the chicken over high direct heat for 4 minutes on each side. Let rest 5-10 minutes.
Cilantro Lime Sauce (inspired by Jeff Mauro)
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Zest and juice of 2 limes
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 dash sriracha (or if it looked nasty and you threw it away, substitute a little chili lime seasoning to taste)
Salt, pepper to taste
- In food processor, combine first seven ingredients.
- Add mayonnaise and process until well combined. Taste and add chili lime seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste.
- Drizzle over chicken.
For the cilantro lime rice and beans, we started with Hope Helmuth’s recipe for rice and beans (see our recipe index), substituted small red beans for black beans (because that is what we had on hand) and added the zest and juice of one lime and 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves just before serving.
