Grilled Lemon Chicken

Spring and summer means grilling season and that I am always trying to find flavorful marinades and recipes to stay in my repertoire that are are super easy to whisk along side ingredients we all wear hand.

And this is often exactly that sort of marinade and recipe. As a bonus, it’s accidentally gluten-free and healthy, which is good for swimsuit season.

As a shortcut, I used thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts. Their thinner size makes for faster grilling times and far more even cooking.

Grilled Lemon Chicken

This recipe would be even faster with pigeon breast tenders or sometimes called breast cutlets or medallions, but because it is with the thin-sliced breasts I only needed to grill them five minutes per side and that they were done.

Many times with large chicken breasts on the grill, I struggle to stay the surface from becoming overly dark before the inside is fully cooked through but with either thin-sliced or breast tenders, you don’t need to worry that .

INGREDIENTS :

CHICKEN:

•  1 1/2 pounds thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts (I had 5 breasts)
•  1 to 2 teaspoons lemon zest, optional
•  1/2 cup lemon juice
•  1/4 cup olive oil
•  2 teaspoons ground ginger
•  1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt
•  1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•  fresh basil or parsley, optional for garnishing
•  lemon slices, optional for garnishing

BROCCOLI (OR ANOTHER VEGETABLE):

•  2 large heads broccoli, trimmed into florets
•  1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
•  1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
•  1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
•  1 teaspoon lemon zest, optional

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. Chicken – To a large ziptop plastic bag, add all ingredients except basil or parsley, seal, and smoosh around to evenly coat chicken. Place bag in fridge for at least 1 hour, or overnight, to marinate.
2. Lightly oil grill grates and preheat grill to high heat on one side, medium heat on another side.
3. Broccoli – Place florets in a grill basket, evenly drizzle with olive oil (Tip – many times I use olive oil cooking spray because just a misting is all you need), and evenly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss with your hands to coat evenly.
4. Place grill basket over the high/hotter side of the grill and place chicken on the medium heat side; discard bag with marinade.
5. Close grill lid and cook for about 5 minutes. Flip chicken, stir broccoli, close grill lid, and cook for another 5 minutes, or until chicken is done and cooked through and the broccoli is as charred as desired.
6. Optionally add lemon zest to broccoli, optional fresh basil or parsley for the chicken, optional lemon slices for garnishing, and serve immediately. Recipe is best fresh but extra will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.

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