Not So Thai Cilantro Grilled Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower

I have been doing a lot of experimenting in the kitchen the last couple weeks with new recipes. Some have turned out good and some not so good; but let’s not talk about that!

For my birthday I was given a grill pan and I couldn’t wait to use it! But next thing I knew we were a month passed my birthday and I still hadn’t busted that bad boy out. Shame on me! I decided to give the Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken recipe from Artsy Foodie a try. Only problem when I went to track down the sesame oil I could not find it, which means I made a Not so Thai Cilantro Grilled Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower as a side.

I not 100% sure what makes a food “Thai” or “Not Thai.” but because I didn’t have the sesame oil I decided my version was the Not So Thai Cilantro Grilled Chicken version. First things first the recipe requires the use of a food processor, which I don’t have. Luckily awhile back Tiffany told us about these blenders that were on sale at JC Penney by Cooks. I roughly cut up 1/2 a cup of cilantro, 2 cloves of garlic and then measured out my 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and put it all in the blender cup. Man this thing pureed the heck out of the cilantro and garlic. I was thoroughly impressed.

As the recipe calls for I poured this mixture over my chicken breasts and let it marinade in the fridge for about 20 minutes and decided to start boiling my cauliflower. I had been wanting to try Mashed Cauliflower for quite some time but I just hadn’t made the time yet. I knew I wanted one that didn’t call for cream or milk. I’ve been told if you’re going to eat clean and have cheese, goat cheese is the best option. If you’ve heard otherwise please let me know!

For the Mashed Cauliflower I followed a recipe from Kayln’s Kitchen. I started out by boiling my head of cauliflower. I cut it up so that it would be easier to cover with water and thoroughly boil. Afterwards I followed Kayln’s instructions and let it sit in the colander for a good 5 minutes. Being overly anxious to use my Kitchen Aid standing mixer (I don’t really care about the tweet-faux pas, I love my mixer), I decided to try and whip my cauliflower in it….not the best idea I’ve ever had. Cauliflower went flying everywhere! Even with the spill/splash guard.

When I boiled the cauliflower I added garlic cloves to the pot as Kayln suggested and kept them with the cauliflower when I began working to mash it. I also added in the goat cheese, 2 Tablespoons. And because I thought they needed to be a little creamier I added in a couple spoonfuls of Greek yogurt. The taste was awesome! The consistency just wasn’t quite where I wanted it and will need to work on it a little more. I also mixed in a little green onion just because I had it. I look forward to experimenting a little more with Mashed Cauliflower.

But back to my Not So Thai Cilantro Grilled Chicken, I turned the chicken so that it was evenly grilled and was completely cooked. Sorry I know that’s not the best picture! The chicken I cooked was actually just one breast cut in half. I honestly don’t know why they come so big these days!

All in all the Not So Thai Cilantro Grilled Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower was a good meal, even though I didn’t have all the ingredients I needed and made a mess of the cauliflower. I’m not sure the chicken really needs the Sesame Oil to be honest. It turned out great just the way it was.

I believe the Not So Thai Cilantro Grilled Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower could actually be considered clean. The only issue would maybe be the goat cheese used in the Mashed Cauliflower.