It was windy enough yesterday to blow the hair off dogs and small children from their porches (I saw it happen across the street, scout’s honor), but hot damn it was 73 in mid-February.
We’ve been enjoying an unusually warm run the past week or so and She Who Must Be Obeyed has been clamoring for just about every meal to be cooked over live fire on the grill.
I stumbled across this Grilled Lemon Chicken recipe in my archives while trying to dig something else out this week; chicken breasts were swimming in marinade all day yesterday and hit the grill about 30 minutes before the sun went down.
When I hear the words “lemon chicken” I used to conjure up two images: one of the cloyingly-sweet, often soggy, Americanized-version of the Chinese dish and Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond slapping another helping of her long-maligned lemon chicken on somebody’s plate.
This Grilled Lemon Chicken is from a whole ‘nuther world.
Packing a tart citrus punch from the lemon juice and zest, the spices add a nifty herbal note without any overwhelming the flavor profile (even the cilantro).
We ate these sliced over a simple salad with a lemony vinaigrette, sitting on the front porch watching unsecured small pets and lawn ornaments blow by, though I have a feeling they’d make an awesome taco, with a bit of goat cheese, guacamole, pickled red onions and a chopped radish or two.
See you at the grill this weekend.
3/4 cup olive oil
1 large lemon, zested
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp (or more) fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp (or more) fresh garlic, chopped
1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 bay leaves4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
Combine the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl, mix well.
Add the chicken breasts, cover and marinate in the fridge overnight (at least 6 hours bare minimum).
Fire the grill, drain the chicken from the marinade though leave any spices clinging to the chicken pieces.
Grill over medium-high heat, taking care not to char, for 4-5 minutes per side until just done.
Serve hot off the fire, room temp, or even cold – these are good anyway you want to go.
Enjoy.
