Jalapeño-Garlic Marinade

Marinades are a universal way to add flavor to beef, chicken, fish, and vegetables, and although easy enough to purchase a bottled version, making your own is simple, free of preservatives, often less expensive, and will feature fresh ingredients. This marinade combines the flavors of jalapeño peppers and garlic, adding a lot of flavor and a bit of spice to any cut of meat or vegetable.

The recipe comes together in the blender, making for a quick preparation. Once the peppers and onion are ground to a pulp, the mixture is blended along with water, red wine vinegar, oregano, cumin, and ground red chile peppers (such as cayenne) until combined. Then the marinade is ready to add flavor to cuts of beef, such as flank, skirt, and hanger steak, or boneless chicken, chicken thighs, and fish like salmon, mahi-mahi, or tilapia. This jalapeño-garlic marinade is also great to use when grilling vegetables, like zucchini and bell peppers.

If you're not a fan of spice, don't worry about the marinade being too hot; Once seeded, jalapeños lose much of their heat. However, feel free to adjust the number of peppers to suit your tastes, or if you prefer food on the spicy side, simply leave in the jalapeño pepper seeds in for a hotter marinade. No matter how you prepare the jalapeño, it's best to wear clean kitchen gloves while cutting and seeding—if not, the capsaicin, the chemical that makes the pepper spicy, will get onto your skin and can cause burning, especially if you touch your eyes or mouth.