10 minutes in the kitchen this morning will save me lots of time today and tomorrow… I made a couple of simple marinades! (Well, actually, I put some chicken and a brisket into ziplock bags and added some stuff.) Really easy!

At yesterday’s grocery shopping spree, I bought 4 chicken breasts and a small beef brisket. I love bbq’d brisket, and chicken is a mainstay in our house – so many things to do with it. And since it’s hotter (and muggier) than hell outside, grilling is the only way to go.

I bought a 4-pack of avocados the other day and want to use them up before they turn into guacamole on their own, so I thought grilled chicken on a bun with sliced avocado and tomato would make a lovely lunch. (I also bought a packageof ww buns, and wanted to use them up before they turned into hockey pucks…) A nice Mexican-inspired marinade would work well with the avocado… So… into the ziplock went a bit of safflower oil, garlic, cilantro, cumin, and chipotle powder, salt and pepper. Done.

I had originally thought simple BBQ sauce would be fine for the brisket, but since I’m doing Mexican for lunch, Asian would be better for dinner. Into the next baggie went soy sauce, safflower oil, a bit of sesame oil, star anise, szechuan peppercorns, chopped garlic, and rice wine. Also done.

For tomorrow’s chicken, I went out to the herb garden and picked fresh basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and parsley. Into the baggie it all went with more fresh garlic, olive oil, and some white wine. It should make a pretty good addition to a big green salad.

10 minutes, three meals, and I’m now ready to lounge around the pool. Oh. Wait. i don’t have a pool. Maybe I’ll start grilling that chicken for lunch!

A couple of hours later and I’m feeling juuuuust fine! the chicken sandwich came out most excellent! I made an adobo mayonnaise by adding a bit of adobo sauce from the canned chipotles in adobo that were in the ‘fridge. A bit of avocado and we had great, sloppy sandwiches!

About 3pm I’ll put the brisket on the grill to s-l-o-w cook!