One of my favorite parts of my “job” is coming up with original recipes inspired by a particular ingredient. I love starting with that one ingredient in mind, keeping it there for a few days or weeks, waiting until the rest of the ingredients come to the surface and a new recipe is born. Even better is when it turns out this well and it’s this easy.

I do quite a bit of work with Momversation, and it’s through them that this assignment for Lawry’s arrived in my inbox. They sent a box with five different new marinades and spice mixtures and asked that I use one of the five to create a new recipe.

My first thought was, it’s barbecue season!! Which put a huge smile on my face because it’s THISCLOSE to being summer! Kids out of school, hanging out at the pool, my HS reunion, visiting my parents and we’re taking the girls on a Disney cruise!! Then I came back from daydreaming and decided to make some delicious chicken burgers, a simple zucchini gratin and margaritas. Which is pretty nice thing to wake up to, if I do say so myself.

I’d bought a big ol’ pack of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. My original plan was to marinate the thighs in the Santa Fe Chili marinade, wipe off the excess and grind the meat from there. At the last minute I thought, why wait even the 30 minutes to marinate when I can just use the Chile & Garlic spice mixture? I’m so glad I did it that way because I could just toss all the ingredients into my food processer, form my chicken patties and toss them on the barbecue whenever we were ready to go.

And then…we had a leak in our propane line! aaarrgghh! So, off to plan B. I pulled out my grill pan, got it nice and screaming hot, and made do with having to cook them inside. They turned out great! I was really happy with them. The key is to buy chicken thighs and grind them yourself instead of pre-ground chicken. This way you know there are no fillers in there and it’s just all meat! You could certainly use chicken breasts, too, but I prefer thighs since they stay nice and moist. I do the same with beef; when a good cut is on sale I’ll pick some up and grind it into some amazing tasting burgers! It only takes an extra step and the result is more than worth it. I also added two slices of raw bacon to the ground chicken for added flavor and to make sure they stayed really moist; you could skip this if you’re using thighs (although I suggest keeping it in – it’s pretty delish :)

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

Lawry’s is also generously giving away a “Dinnertising Kit” which includes:

• Rachael Ray Lasagna Lover Stoneware
• 2 Zak Designs Serving Spoons
• Lawry’s NEW Marinades and Spice Blends: Mediterranean Herb Seasoned Salt, Fire Roasted Chile & Garlic, Roasted Garlic Salt, Santa Fe Chili Marinade and Mediterranean Herb and White Wine Marinade

To enter, head over to Dinnertising and create a Dinnertisement! It took me about a minute to create mine! Once it’s over, click the red “url” button which immediately copies your specific link  - then just paste that link in the comments section on this post. That’s it! And if you’d like even more entries, feel free to enter below {you must first create a Dinnertisement for your extra entries to count}.

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded (leave in the seeds if you like it spicy)
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 2 slices uncooked bacon, chopped
• 1 T Lawry’s Fire Roasted Chile & Garlic spice mixture
• 2 T olive oil