Fire Up the Grill! 5 Minute Marinades for Summer

In the past week, I've been treated to two delicious-I-didn't-have-to-do-a-thing-home-cooked meals. Lucky me!

Both meals contained marinated and grilled meat. Since grilling season is upon us, I thought that two, basic marinade recipes to keep in our back pockets were in order. There is truly no need to buy pre-made marinades. Have you looked at the label on those? Check out the added sugars and salt the next time you pick one of those bottles and throw it into your cart. If you watch your salt and sugar intake, this is a great place for those ingredients to hide. Many people have no realization that these ingredients are added in large quantities at times. Same goes for salad dressings. All I'm saying is that it's SIMPLE and FAST to make your own marinade and odds are that you have many, if not all, of the ingredients at home right now! We're talking less than 5 minutes to whip these up.



Grilled Pork Tenderloin Marinade (2 loins)
1/4 c low sodium soy sauce
1/4 c bourbon or whiskey
2 T brown sugar
Whisk together and allow to marinade for at least 2 hours in the fridge.


Grilled Flank Steak Marinade (2 1/4 pounds of steak)
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
4 1/2 T honey
6 large garlic cloves, minced
3 T chopped fresh rosemary or 1 T dried
1 1/2 T coarsely ground pepper
1 1/2 t salt
Whisk together and allow meat to marinate for 2 hours in the fridge.

This particular recipe is on www.epicurious.com, but was actually created by Chef Richard Chamberlain of Chamberlain's Steak and Chop house in Dallas.

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

4 1/2 tablespoons honey

6 large garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried

1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Flank-Steak-with-Rosemary-731#ixzz0mMrSHZAN

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

4 1/2 tablespoons honey

6 large garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried

1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Flank-Steak-with-Rosemary-731#ixzz0mMrSHZAN

Yep, that's it!

It's easy to make homemade salad dressings, too. I love to do a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil with a good splash of red wine vinegar directly onto my salad. Add freshly ground pepper and a pinch of salt and toss. Any flavored vinegar will work-my newest addiction is white balsamic vinegar.

Tell me your favorite homemade marinades and salad dressings!

Many thanks to Cari and Rachelle for sharing their recipes with me! And, thanks for dinner!

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

4 1/2 tablespoons honey

6 large garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried

1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Flank-Steak-with-Rosemary-731#ixzz0mMoZp0kc

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

4 1/2 tablespoons honey

6 large garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried

1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Flank-Steak-with-Rosemary-731#ixzz0mMoZp0kc