I am...unfortunately...allergic to soy! Do you KNOW how hard it is to be allergic to something that is in your absolute fave dishes?! I have found 1 restaurant that can make my food soy free (PF Changs...I LOVE YOU!) and also an awesome little bento place by my hubalub's work that we met when she first opened the place! My dad is a rock star! He has a food booth! Have I not shared the details of this before?! Why, yes! My dad makes KILLER AMAZING SPECTACULAR food. From a booth that he built! Pretty cool right?! It's called Cameron's Smoke Shack and he cooks up some mean Cajun creole BBQ! Alligator is a big seller along with po boys, pulled pork, chicken, gumbo. The list goes on! When it comes to my soy allergy (it causes me to have an asthma attack. We figured out it decreases my lung capacity by 20% with each intake! Scary stuff! I almost died! But that's a whole other story!) so he not only made up a "soy" sauce for me BUT he made up the most awesome salt rub for chicken. Literally this stuff is to die for! (would like info on purchasing his rub you can message HERE on his facebook page! Look for his booth coming up in the Brew Fest in Bend, OR)

ANYHOW, to make my soy free bento we use boneless skinless chicken thighs (I like that they are softer and hold in flavor better! Less dry than say chicken breast!) and my dear husband rubs it down with my dads rub. He then grills the chicken while I prepare the veggies!

We then stick in my awesome grill basket (purchased from Pampered Chef) my hubby gets to grillin'!



Meanwhile I start rice in my rice cooker. When the chicken is finished and the veggies are soft, some crispy...I then chop up the chicken.


When chopped I pile on the chicken and the veggies over rice and done! SO delicious and easy. Not to mention pretty healthy for you! Enjoy!

This is by far the best chicken marinade I have ever had in my life! Yum-diddly-ump-shes for sure! I have the hardest time as almost everything contains soy and since I am allergic makes it really difficult to find suitable options!! The home style fries have been a hit around here as well and make a great pair with the chicken (and good ol' Bush's Baked Beans...of course! Who has BBQ without them?)

You are going to mix all of the following into a medium sized mixing bowl...make sure your chicken is thawed out (I use boneless/skinless chicken thighs...they stay juicy and hold in the flavor really well!)

5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 *heaping* Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 *heaping* Tbsp Olive Oil

**(when I say heaping I mean while I am dumping the measuring spoon into my bowl I am still pouring!)


Add your chicken and let sit in the fridge for a few hours or if you are like me I forgot to marinade it early so I did mine just before dinner...oops! you can make and let it marinade over night and let really soak in the yumminess! BBQ till fully cooked and serve!

This chicken is great chopped up and put on salads...I tend to not use dressing when I do it this way.

For the home fries preheat your oven to 525 degrees (yes you read that correct!) you will cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with oil (I use good ol' Pam!). Take about 4 or 5 russet potato's or 7-8 red potato's and wash thoroughly. Cut them in half length wise and then slice into 3 pieces (so each potato you are getting 6 fries) length wise.



Toss into a large bowl. I pour in about 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil and swish it around pretty good. Mince 3-4 cloves of garlic, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp course salt (we use Kosher Sea Salt), and 1/2 tsp of paprika. Toss till coated evenly and spread onto cookie sheet.




As you can see I couldn't even wait to dive into my plate of yummy-ness before I took a picture! Happy BBQ'n! In fact we are off to BBQ with friends now!