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Garlicky Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken


finger licking chicken  (ignore the burnt sausage)

I love grill season, the minute the temperature hits 60 I fire mine up. The benefits are many, the taste is divine, I don't have to heat up my kitchen in those glorious summer months and my most favorite thing of all, it's virtually mess free!

That time I challenged famed Texan, Mel Huckabee,  to a grill off....

One of my most popular summer moves it to marinate meat in the morning and toss it on the grill in the evening. Dinner basically makes itself. I make marinades from anything I have, mustard, soy sauce, honey, tequila, lemons, limes, oranges, etc... Expect lots of this from me in the coming months! Most mornings I haphazardly toss ingredients into a gallon zip lock, toss in my meat, shake it up and plop it in the fridge only to return 4 - 6 hours later and flip it onto the grill, tongs in one hand and a wine spritzer in the other.

For herbs, the summer months deliver my back yard grocery store, where I can clip the freshest of the fresh and do what the cool kids call, "farm to table". Does a cinderblock walled concrete 12 x 16 yard count as a farm? I'm gonna go with yes.

farm to table, what a novel concept

The most challenging part of this recipe is grilling the chicken. There are a few chicken grilling rules I live by:

1: Don't make your grill too hot, I warm mine up and then keep it at a nice medium level.

2: Don't get an itchy flip finger. When you place your chicken on the grill let it stay there. that is how you get those cool grill marks! Lift it up to early or too late and it's game over!

3: Time it and get a meat thermometer, you don't want to under or over do it and you are talking a minute's difference between yay or nay.

don't panic and premature flip!

Feeds 4 People, but you might want to make more because this left over and cold is d'lish!

What Do I Need?

2 Lb's Chicken Breast - medium cut, not thin (this is about 4 good sized chicken breasts)

3 - 4 Garlic cloves

1 Lemon (a big one, not a little one)

2 T Fresh rosemary (chopped)

1 T Fresh oregano (chopped)

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

S & P

Now What?

In a medium bowl crush your garlic with a garlic press. I love to use a press for this because I feel like I get every ounce of garlic in the marinade, if you don't have one, you can just chop it up. Next add the zest of 1/2 your lemon, now cut that lemon in half and juice it into your marinade. Next add your rosemary, oregano, olive oil and S&P to taste. You should have 1 cup of marinade. If you don't, add a bit more olive oil.

Next pound your chicken with a meat mallet, not too much, just a bit to tenderize it and soften it. Place your chicken in a large ziplock or bowl and add marinade, cover bowl or close zip lock and place in the fridge for 4 - 6 hours, or overnight. I really love the ziplock for marinating. I feel like every piece of meat has an equal chance at bathing in that delicious marinade.

When you are ready to cook, remove your chicken from the bag and place on grill over a medium flame and cook for 5 - 7 minutes per side.

I served this with my Burnt Garlic Zucchini, which I discovered by accident, but now make on the regular. I'll share that one soon!

grilling peppers and onions all summer long

Take Note: Whenever I grill, I tend to cut an onion into 1/2" slices and place on the grill as well as tossing peppers on. I don't put anything on them, i literally pull them from the vine and toss them on the grill. their sweetness compliments every meat.

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