Let’s Dish! Food for Thought » George Foreman to the Rescue!

George Foreman to the Rescue!

I use my outdoor grill year round. I use it because I like the grilled flavor it adds to the food and, maybe more importantly, I use it because I embrace the concept of minimal mess. Why use a pot on the stovetop or a pan in the oven when I don’t have to? Many Let’s Dish! cooking instructions suggest a grilling alternative such as the stovetop or the oven. For dishes such as salmon which are wrapped in a foil packet the oven is fine. For most others I brave the elements and use the grill.

Tonight when I took the thawed Chicken Sate with Cous Cous package out of the refrigerator I experienced a moment of panic. The grill outside was covered in three inches of fresh snow and I didn’t feel like standing in the snow to cook the chicken. Determined not to mess up an extra pot or pan I put my problem solving skills to work. I remembered that somewhere in a rarely visited cabinet I had the cutest little George Foreman Grill. I don’t even know where it came from or why I have it. (If you’re reading this post and are now mad at me because you gave it to me, I apologize. But, keep reading because you’ll like the ending!)

The grill was clearly designed to cook burgers. There’s even a place to warm buns! Determined to succeed, I plugged it in and began cooking the chicken. I was amazed at how evenly and quickly it cooked the chicken. When I dish, I typically split my dishes so they feed two to three people. I was able to cook all six chicken tenders at once. They fit perfectly over the grilling area. If I’d done a full order I would have simply repeated the process with the other six tenders. The amazing thing was that the chicken cooked from the top and the bottom so it was done very quickly. There was no smoke and the drippings rolled right into the provided reservoir. It took just about as long to boil the water for the cous cous as it did for the chicken to cook. I quickly sautéed some fresh spinach and the meal was complete.

I am thrilled to report that the clean up was a snap! The grill comes with a handy dandy tool that scrapes off the little pieces and then a damp paper towel finished up the job. For me, it’s no more standing under an umbrella to grill in the rain or in freezing cold. I’ll be warm and toasty until the daffodils poke out of the ground.

Run, don’t walk, to the nearest Target or Best Buy and get yourself one of these inexpensive little appliances. You’ll enjoy grilling your Let’s Dish! dishes all year long.