I’m afraid of the grill.

I think it stems from my parents gas BBQ. It had a lever to push and light it, but it was so loud that I was convinced that it would cause it to explode. I only had lit it a few times and each time I would shut my eyes and try to get as far away as I could from the grill and still push the lever. I always was afraid to blow myself up. It was pretty darn strange.

Now I leave the grilling up to the Husband and I stick with creating new marinades and different things for the grill. He can deal with the heat and exploding grill, I’ll hide in the house. (No it never has blown up, but that doesn’t stop me from being afraid still.)

This marinade has to be my favorite one for beef so far. I love limes and I love chili powder, so I decided to just make it up one day and see what would happen.

Delicious.

There is only one bad thing about making this. Each time we make it I always get too excited about eating it to take pictures of the final product.

My favorite way to eat this meat is in tacos. With a nice amount of shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream all wrapped up on a corn tortilla.

The sour cream and the cold cheese are a great pairing with the tangy and spicy flavor of the marinade. Best ever.

Chili Lime Marinade
Marinates 1-2 lbs of meat

• 1-2 limes, juiced and zested
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup diced red onion

1. Whisk together all ingredients and pour over meat to marinade for 6-8 hours. Cook as desired, discarding extra marinade.

Italian marinated salmon.

Whenever we would make salmon, we would let it marinade in Italian salad dressing. We liked to use a really good one, like the one at Olive Garden (you can buy it by the bottle from the restaurant).

We usually would marinate the salmon for a few hours before grilling it. It’s always easiest to just stick it in a zip-top bag and put in just enough dressing to cover the meat on all sides. It always tasted wonderful.

Now that I no longer live near my parents, two states away now, I started just using a little garlic, pepper and dill on my salmon and cooked it in a pan inside. I really am NOT a grill-master.

But Saturday I wanted what I remembered from home. I think everyone does that at some point, comfort food I guess. I bought some dressing and made my yummy food.

It definitely tastes different than just using the spices. The vinegar in the dressing gives it a slightly tangy and sweet flavor all at once. Finishing the meal with some broccoli drizzled in lemon juice and roasted potatoes. YUM!