The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays to bake for! But this year, I decided to make dinner for my family! The menu for the day was: baked BBQ chicken with a homemade barbecue sauce, a creamy cauliflower pasta and oven baked zucchini! :) My family was absolutely stuffed and happy afterwards, so I decided to share the recipes! Whether or not it’s for the fourth of july or for a regular dinner, I would recommend these recipes in a heartbeat! They’re easy and amazing!
What are your favorite Fourth of July recipes? Leave a comment and let me know! :D
Homestyle Barbecued Chicken (Serves 5-6)
Brine Ingredients:
8 cups water
2 tablespoons salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 lbs of boneless chicken breast (~3 large breasts)
Barbecue Sauce Ingredients:
1 slice bacon
1 bunch of fresh thyme
olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
pepper to taste
Directions:
1. To create the brine, mix together the water, salt, sugar, garlic and thyme in a large bowl, and set aside. Cut the chicken breasts in half to make decent size portions for you and your family, friends, or guests. Place chicken into a 2 gallon ziplock bag, then pour the brine over it. Place it in your refrigerator and let it sit for no more than 2 hours. If you don’t have two hours, then at least 30 minutes. This is an important step! It makes the chicken moist! Don’t skip it! :)
2. While the chicken is in the brine, make the sauce. In a large pan, heat approximately 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the thyme and bacon and let it cook slowly for about 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Add the onions and garlic and let it cook slowly, without coloring for about 5 minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients: ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, red wine vinegar, cumin, paprika, and pepper. Stir the sauce and lower the heat to low. Cook it slowly for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to completely mix. It will smell WONDERFUL!
4. Set aside about 1 1/2 cups of the sauce so people can add more bbq sauce if they’d like at the table! :)
5. Preheat the oven to 375.
6. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels. On an baking sheet (lightly greased), spread out the chicken so that they do not touch, and place it in the oven for 10 minutes.
7. After 10 minutes, remove it from the oven and flip the chicken over. Then generously brush barbecue sauce onto the chicken, and replace it into the oven. After 10 minutes, flip and brush again. After 10 more minutes flip and brush the chicken one more time and let it cook for 15 minutes. Enjoy! :)
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Easy Breezy Creamy Cauliflower Pasta (Makes about 5 cups of sauce)
Ingredients:
1 box of pasta (I used linguine)
9 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp butter
6 cups cauliflower florets
6 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper (to taste)
1/2 cup milk
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. I used the entire box. A box of linguine matches perfectly with this recipe! You get leftovers! (Cook until tender, about 7-10 minutes)
2. While the pasta is boiling, saute the minced garlic with the butter in a medium nonstick skillet over low heat. Cook it for several minutes, until the garlic is soft and smells really good! (Make sure it isn’t browned, otherwise it may make a bitter taste!) Set it aside.
3. In a large pot, bring the vegetable broth to a boil and add the cauliflower. Cover it and cook for 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower is soft.
4. In a blender, pour in the garlic and butter, salt, pepper, milk, and 1 cup of the hot vegetable broth. using a slotted spoon, transfer all the cauliflower from the pot to the blender. Take 1 cup of the vegetable broth from the pot, as well, and add it to the mix. Blend this mixture for about 5-10 minutes, or until the cauliflower sauce is very smooth. You can add more broth or milk depending on how thick you want it, but I didn’t add anything, and it was fantastic! (I used the Vita-mix on the soup setting for about 5 minutes!)
5. Add the sauce to the pasta and serve! Delicioso! & It’s HEALTHY! :) (It’s only about 50-100 calories for a serving, as opposed to the 250+ calories in Alfredo!)
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Baked Zucchini (or other Vegetables)
Ingredients:
2 large zucchinis cut into thirds, then cut into wedges.
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable Oil or PAM
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375. (If you make this with the bbq chicken, add the zuchini after you put sauce onto the chicken for the first time)
2. On a greased baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, space out the zucchini so they do not touch.
3. Drizzle on the vegetable oil, or lightly spray with PAM. Then sprinkle salt and pepper onto the zucchini and place into the oven.
4. Cook for about 30-40 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender, and lightly browned.
This was delicious! :) The BBQ sauce is sweet and really flavorful, and the cauliflower pasta was creamy and hit the spot, while the zucchini was a perfect balance for the two!
Let me know if you tried the recipes and how they turned out!
I hope you all had a fantastic fourth of July! :) How did my family celebrate? By swimming and playing with these poppers/firecrackers! :)
Happy Friday!