It's a First

I confess. It's been a week since my last blog post. It's been a crazy month here at the Humiston house. In fact, I have some pretty exciting news to share. After renting our quaint little one bedroom apartment in Jersey City for the last two years, Shaun and I took the plunge and purchased our very first home (!). Still carrying a bit of urbanniteness around with us, we decided that the apartment/condo route was the way to go. After extensive searching in Hoboken and Jersey City, we finally settled on a loft in the JC. Our new home is brand spankin' new, complete with higher-than-your-average-ceiling ceilings, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a terrace to boot - all of which is a major upgrade from our old one bedroom with dingy floors and appliances circa 1985 (though the place was in a luxury building, it seemingly hadn't been properly cared for until Shaun and I came along and gave it some serious TLC to make it a happy home for us over the last two years). So needless to say, it's been a mad dash to the finish line in terms of making our decision, doing the deal and uprooting all of our posessions (you'd be truly shocked to see how much 'stuff' can accumulate in a small 1 bedroom apt) which hasn't left much time for concocting delicious dinners and delectable sweets.

Of course one of my favorite parts of our new home is the brandy-new kitchen, in which I'm just dying to get cookin'. That is, once all of my favorite appliances are unpacked and in their happy new homes. Oh, and I should also mention that I'm simply over the moon about our new terrace. In fact, we refer to it as the terrace as we are still pinching ourselves over the fact that we are living in an urban environment yet have a huge outdoor space of our very own. And since we can't stop singing its praises, we made our very first  purchase for our new place and more specifically, the terrace.

Since Shaun and I are all about the food, we purchased a sweet little grill for our new terrace. It's an item that we pined over for two years in our last home and even went so far as to eat cheeseburgers and hot dogs beyond the appropriate level of consumption at each and every barbecue to which we were invited just to get our proper fill of the grill. So after a Memorial Day party in Hoboken on Sunday, we drove on over to Home Depot and picked up a Weber charcoal grill, some charcoal and an extra fire extinguisher (to keep on hand for safety). We figured that while the terrace is quite spacious, it is super close to our loft and therefore we didn't exactly feel safe having a tank of butane within a few feet our our living room and bedroom. So we went the charcoal route, which not only eliminates the gas issue, but we prefer the cooking method to gas grilling. And it smells oh-so-good. There she is, sitting pretty on the terrace along with some flowers that my mom gifted to us right after our move. Doesn't it already look like the makings of a sweet outdoor area?

And since I like to keep things food related, here's a peak at the inaugral dinner that Shaun grilled up for us. I really just have one word for it...yummm. So that's the beginning story of our new home and our first food purchase for the new place - a charcoal grill that's the perfect way to kick off the summer in the brand new joint. But what I really want to know is, how do you get your grill on? Do you go gas or go charcoal? Can you notice a difference?

Grilled Zucchini Coins

One of my favorite things about spring is the abundance of gorgeous and delicious vegetables. Let's face it, most vegetables need some serious help to invigorate any sort of flavor and I just don't believe anyone who says that vegetables are naturally delicious, because quite honestly, there's a reason why eating them seems like a chore for most people.

I'm a huge fan of roasting, but now that windows are open and warm air is streaming in to our tiny apartment, limited oven use is a must. While roasting does tend to bring out the most wonderful flavors, grilling can have the same effect. Since we live in a tiny Jersey City apartment with no personal outdoor space to speak of (yet), I once again broke out the Foreman to whip up some zucchini coins that transformed the standard vegetables from eh to mmmm. The salt is a must to bring out the delectable flavors, just make sure that you don't overdo it on the grilling - nothing says ack more than squishy veggies. Instead, grill for a few minutes only, get some nice brown crispy marks and chow down.

Grilled Zucchini Coins
1 large zucchini
olive oil
kosher salt
pepper

Slice zucchini into thick coins and spread out on a plate. Drizzle with olive oil and generously sprinkle salt and a little bit of pepper on each side of the zucchini. Grill until tender, serve and enjoy!

I know I've made some easy dishes here on TAA, but it honestly doesn't get simpler than this. Oh, and did I mention that I picked up two zucchinis from Fresh Direct for a mere $1.49 total? You really can't beat that and the fact that it's a healthy side dish is just the icing on the cake. Ooooh, cake...

Sweet 'n Savory Pineapple Chicken with Couscous

While Shaun and I are typically 'eat out on the weekends' people aside from most breakfasts, this weekend, we decided to enjoy a light dinner at home on Saturday night before heading over to a friend's party later in the evening. Though I did place my first Fresh Direct order a few days ago, I'm all about using up just about every item of food in our pantry - but both of those points are stories for another time.

While cleaning out said pantry yesterday, I came across a giant can of pineapple (only God knows when I bought that thing). Combined with my new 4lb pack of chicken breasts (don't worry, I didn't use all of it), I knew I had the makings of a fun new dinner of the sweet 'n savory variety - my favorite kind. And the warm weekend weather was just begging for some grilling. Since we currently have no outdoor space whatsoever (again, more on that later), I was relegated to breaking out the Foreman Grill - certainly a fine way to grill it up, but fell a bit short of truly grilled deliciousness (and did I mention that it's a pain and a half to clean? Yeah, it is.) Take a closer look at how I got 'er done.

Sweet 'n Savory Pineapple Chicken with Couscous
1 large can chopped pineapple
1 lb. chicken breasts or tenderloins
6 tbsp light brown sugar, divided
3 tbsp dijon mustard, divided
3/4 C pineapple juice, divided (drained from can)

Prepare couscous on stove top according to the package. Let sit, covered, while you prepare the chicken. Drain the canned pineapple into a measuring cup and reserve pineapple chunks in separately bowl. In a mixing bowl, combine 1/4 C pineapple juice, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard and 2 tbsp light brown sugar. Whisk together until combined. Add chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes. On a Forman Grill (or actual grill), grill the chicken, making sure to get some carmelized grill marks on the chicken pieces. Meanwhile, in another mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Add the mixture to a skillet, bring to a boil and then let simmer and reduce, adding the pineapple pieces to the sauce. Add the grilled chicken and toss to coat. Serve over prepared couscous.

Could it be any easier? The whole meal, save for the marinade, took about 20 minutes and you really can't beat that. So what do you think?