Grilled (marinated) Chicken
Just like you, I lead a very busy life. I enjoy sitting down and figuring whats on the menu for dinner everynight and planning ahead. The reality of this actually happening in my life is rare. I am a full time student, a barista, a house cleaner (well, of my own house), AND the sous chef here at the Johnson household. So…quite often dinner time will be upon us and I’m just starting to peek into the fridge to see what I have on-hand to make. This recipe has saved dinner more than a few times. The beautiful thing about marinating chicken is that I’ll leave it for up to three days marinating and the longer it marinates, the better it is. So here’s the deal…start marintating the chicken on Sunday when you have a free moment (because thats really what it takes), and chances are you’ll have a need for it by Wednesday. PLUS… this recipe is so good it’s even guest ready. I often make double what I think we’ll eat for dinner in case we decide to invite someone over or I use it for lunch/sandwiches/pasta the next day.
Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (fresh or frozen)
Marinade:
1 bottle of any type of italian dressing
1 or 2 heaping spoonfuls of garlic (depending on taste)
2 TBS sugar
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
fresh or dried herbs (whatever you have): basil, cilantro, oregano, thyme…
1/2 onion (if you have it on hand that’s great, if not, don’t worry about it)
1 big ziploc freezer bag
Instructions:
First: (this can be done up to 3 days in advance) Put all the marinade ingredients in the ziploc bag zip it and shake it. This will get everything mixed up well then put the chicken in. I rarely/never buy fresh chicken, I always get the big ol’ bags at Costco and it’s perfectly ok to put the frozen chicken in there , it doesn’t need to be thawed first (unless you’re making it day-of, then see note below). Get all the air out of the bag then put it on a plate and stick it in the fridge. If you’re letting it sit for more than a day flip it over once or twice a day so the goodies get mixed up.
**If you’re making this for day-of use, it would be a good idea to marinate non-frozen chicken, so either use fresh or thaw it before you put in the marinade. I suggest marinating it for 2-3 hours at least for better results but a couple days for BEST.
From this point you’re only about 15 minutes away from incredibly moist, guest raving, husband-loving chicken.
Second: heat the grill on medium heat. While the grill warms up, use a meat pounder and made it so the chicken is an even thickness (if all the air is still out of the bag you can pound it directly in the ziploc bag CAREFULLY).
Third: Pour about 3/4 cup of the marinade into a bowl so you can baste the chicken as it grills.
Forth: place the chicken in the middle of the grill (which should be set to medium heat) and cook on each side for 3 minutes. Keep the chicken moving a little so it doesn’t stick on the grill. Baste every couple minutes.
Forth: move the chicken off direct heat and lower the grill to low. Close the lid and leave it for 10 minutes (keeping an eye an it) but this is a good time to set the table or whatever other last minute dinner things you need to do!
Five: make sure the chicken is cooked through. There are 3 ways to do this but I wouldn’t recommend 2 of them. 1st (recommended but takes a lot of courage): the touch test. The chicken should feel firm to touch. The picture below is how chicken feels when it’s done. This is the best method because you don’t poke any holes in the chicken and lose any of that yummy juice. I’ve also heard that it should feel like the bottom of your heel but I don’t recommend you touch your heel while you cook.
2nd: meat thermometer. Chicken should be cooked to 160 degrees. This method pokes a hole in the chicken though which makes you lose the moisture that makes people proclaim “Wow! This is so juicy!”
3rd: Go ahead… cut it open… RUIN it. The chicken needs to be white all the way through and the juices run clear as water. But really, if you want your food to be the best it can be, don’t cut it open and look at it. But if you feel like you must only cut into one and make sure its the one you eat.
There you go! it’s done and yummy. Serve it with some green beans or a salad or artichokes and maybe a starch (like garlic mashed potatoes.
Citrus Ginger Chicken Tenders
Have you ever heard that half your taste comes from what you smell? Well, I was washing my hands at a friend’s house the other day and she had citrus-ginger hand soap! Wow, it smelled so good. This got me thinking that if citrus and ginger smelled so good together that they might actually taste good together too! I figured it was worth a try and since I had some chicken in my fridge that I needed to use, I decided to whip up a quick marinade and see how it would taste. Yes, my husband is such a trooper for putting up with and eating all my crazy ideas. I served it with Cilantro Lime Rice and honestly…it was amazing! The taste of the ginger is delightful and fresh and with the citrus, it was perfectly balanced and summer-y. Hmmmm I’d bet you could use any combination of citrus…if you try something else, leave a comment letting us know what you used and how it worked!
Here’s what I threw together:
Original Recipe by Goodies and Guests
Ingredients:
10 Chicken tenders
2-inch piece of ginger (1-inch finely grated the other inch cut into chunks)
Juice & Zest from 1 Lime
Juice & Zest from 4 Lemons
Juice & Zest from 2 Oranges
2 Cloves Garlic
4 TBS Sugar
½ Cup Oil
Instructions:
Step 1: Put all the ingredients (except the chicken) into a Ziploc bag, close the bag and give some gentle shakes to mix everything up.
Step 2: Put the chicken in the bag then place in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.
Step 3: Put some oil in a pan on medium heat, wait till the oil gets hot then put the tenders on the pan, cover and let cook for 3 minutes. Flip chicken, cover, and let cook for another 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through.
Serve with cilantro lime rice and toasted pitas. Quick. Easy. Yummy!
Asian Chicken Skewers
One of my very favorite cook books is “The New Intercourses: an aphrodisiac cookbook”. It was a wedding gift from my dear friend Corrie and while I’m not sure if I would have ever picked up and bought the cookbook on my own accord, she assured me that I would fall in love with the recipes in this book. Boy oh boy, she’s right. This is my favorite recipe out of this book so I thought I would share it with you. This wouldn’t be complete if it weren’t served with peanut sauce!!
Serves: 2 if you’re making it for dinner, 4 if you’re serving it as an appitizer
Ingredients:
1 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS sugar
2 cloves minces garlic
1 TBS peanut oil
Zest & Juice from 1 lemon
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Step 1: Combine soy sauce, garlic, sugar, peanut oil, & lime in a large ziploc bag.
Step 2: Rinse chicken and pat dry.
Step 3: Pound chicken slightly until both breasts and of even thickness
Step 4: Chill the marinade anywhere between 1 hour and 2 days, flipping occasionally to redistribute the marinade.
Step 5: Cut chicken breast pieces into about 1″ squares and skewers the chicken leaving about an inch between each piece. (If you are using wooden skewers, but sure to let them soak for 30 minutes so they don’t catch fire while grilling)
Step 6: Grill chicken on med/low BBQ for about 4 minutes on each side
Serve either on the skewer or slide off and put in bowl. Yum! Also goes well with Cilantro Lime Rice.
Goodies & Guests 