Oh look, chicken and rice!

One of our favorite recipes for chicken actually came from a recipe called "Grilled Marinated Shrimp" on allrecipes.com several years ago. The flavor of this marinade rivals that of shrimp skewers from well-known steakhouses, and is equally delicious on chicken or shrimp.

I had intended to eat shrimp and save the chicken for The H and the little guy, but since the shrimp shrunk more than I had intended, I had some chicken as well. Aren't my shrimps cute? The flavor on them was so concentrated.

When we were using this marinade multiple times a week, I'd shake up a big batch in a Mason jar and keep it in the fridge, pouring out what I needed depending on the meal. Our favorite way to enjoy it used to be on shrimp/veggie skewers that were served over--and eventually mixed with--orzo.

Grilled Marinated Shrimp (marinade only)

from allrecipes.com

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp hot pepper sauce (I use Frank's RedHot)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp is more than enough)

1 tsp ground black pepper (I always use less)

2 lbs shrimp, chicken, or a combination

1. Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.

2. Place shrimp or chicken in a resealable container or zip-top bag and pour marinade over, reserving some for basting if desired. Marinate 2-8 hours.

Tonight I served it with a brown rice pilaf made with celery, onion, yellow and orange bell peppers, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and vegetable broth.

The veggie broth made up one-third of the 3 cups of cooking liquid. I added too much water, though, considering the rice wasn't *quite* a full 1.5 cups. Boo to smushy rice. But I did use up the ends of two separate bags of brown rice, so yay for that.

At the last minute, I also decided to use up the broccoli in the fridge and quickly sizzled it in my cast iron skillet with grapeseed oil, crushed red pepper, and lemon zest.

The zest was made possible by my endless freezer stash of really cool stuff. :D

I served a dish of strained plain yogurt--which becomes like sour cream--on the side because the spice level was pretty powerful.

We capped the evening with garbanzo bean brownies and some delicious Gevalia creme brulee decaf.