National BBQ Month - Quick Marinades

Happy National BBQ Month! Use that grill or BBQ to make amazing food. 

As I have been looking up how to grill different meats, I keep seeing Marinades come up.  I always assumed a marinade took hours, but I have found several marinades that can take as little as 30 minutes. That is great news! I always want to try out Marinades, but never seem to remember to look them up until I already should have been marinating the meat for several hours. So even if you forget, like I do, or decide last minute to grill up some yummy meat, you can add loads of flavor with a marinade while you are preparing the rest of the meal.

Quick Marinades

Quick Chicken Marinade

Chicken – Chicken takes on flavor well and quickly. Add the smokiness of the grill and you have a delicious meal.

You can also use any of the seasoning salt, balsamic vinegar and olive oil on our website to create delicious marinades.

Quick Steak Marinade

Steak – This is one meat I usually only salt, pepper and grill. Then I use steak sauce after it is cooked. While that is tasty, I am excited to try marinating it to get some different flavors going. This recipe is exactly what I was looking for in terms of marinating meat and preparing the other food at the same time. Plus it is a completely different flavor than the one I usually eat with steak. 

Salmon Marinade

Fish – A marinade can really help you eat more fish if you don’t like that “fishy” flavor. It is quick to add flavor to fish, typically not taking more then 15-20 minutes. Some firmer fish like Salmon can take up to an hour. Pro-Tip: Don’t marinate your fish in an Aluminum pan as the acid in most marinades will react with the Aluminum. 

Vegetable Marinade

Vegetables – This recipe makes a great side or main dish. This one will take longer to marinate then other recipes on here, but it looks so good I couldn't help but share it here. 

If you need a grill pan for vegetables or fish, you can get one here.

What are some of your favorite marinade recipes?

Roasted Rosemary Garlic Marble Potatoes

Sometimes a “standby” just gets better. I was at the grocery store finalizing my purchases for the July 4^th barbecue weekend when I came across some small mesh bags of marble potatoes. I typically make this recipe with baby reds or fingerling potatoes. It has always been an incredibly easy side dish to make with very little prep and roasting time, and I rarely have any leftovers because everyone eats them up. So I couldn’t help but think of this recipe when I came across these potatoes. The results were amazing and I will most likely seek out these marble sized potatoes from now on when making this recipe. The particular potatoes I bought were yellow, red, and purple. Not only did they provide great flavor, but three distinct textures as well. All have a bit of a crunch or light snap when you bite into them, but the meat of these jewels goes from very creamy to a more dense, almost chewy texture as you sample yellow to red to purple. Combine these flavors and textures with rosemary, roasted garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper and you have an excellent addition to any barbecue. Here’s how I did it:

- 2 lbs marble potatoes

- 1 sprig fresh rosemary 7 to 10 inches

- 3 medium sized cloves of garlic

- 4 TBSP olive oil

- salt and pepper

Rinse off the potatoes in a colander and set aside to dry. Peel the garlic cloves and finely chop with a sharp knife. Strip the rosemary sprig of the needles and finely chop them. Place the potatoes, chopped garlic, chopped rosemary, and olive oil into a large mixing bowl. Mix together with a large spoon until the potatoes are evenly coated with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. Sprinkle in salt and pepper and mix again. Pour the potatoes into a heavy gauge roasting pan making sure to scrape the remaining oil, garlic, and rosemary from the mixing bowl. Place the roasting pan into a preheated 400 degree oven. Remove 12 to 15 minutes later and stir or shake the potatoes. Place back into the oven for another 10 minutes until the skins start to brown and the potatoes become fork tender. You should be able to stick a fork or paring knife into them and remove it without any resistance. This can also be done on the grill using a grill basket or a perforated grill basket. I find it best to close the grill lid when roasting the potatoes this way.

A side note: If you do have leftovers then just reheat and serve with chopped bacon or sour cream and chive for other variations.