{ grill me somethin’ tasty, beautiful }

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{ lemon rosemary chicken }

{ lemon-rosemary chicken with tzatziki }

Let’s start the week off HEALTHY. I tend to be a bit of a weekend warrior, so come Monday I’m ready to clean up my act…at least for a couple of days.

Here’s the best thing about this recipe: I’ve never met an easier one. I mean cheap and easy is this guy’s first and last name. Thus we’re besties. Ingredients are usually on hand and as long as I have propane in the barbie, we’ve got a date (although I’ve been known to use the cast-iron grill pan when I’m too lazy to even walk outside). I also love going for this one when I’ve been hitting the sweets a little hard…which I have. I would insert a pig emoji right here, but I feel like I’ll start losing some respect. Not everybody appreciates the beauty that is the emoji. So I’ll just announce when I’d like to insert one. Such as now.

I’ll have more to say as you’re reading the recipe below…so let’s get to it.

{ lemon-rosemary chicken with tasty tzatziki }

Makes 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS

For the Chicken

  • 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (that’s about 4 breasts, around 6 ounces each)
  • 2 garlic cloves, pressed
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large sprig of fresh rosemary
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For the Tzatziki

  • 1.5 cups 2% fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove, pressed
  • 3 (or more) tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 cup cucumber, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons parsley (you could also use dill, mint or whatever fresh herb you have on hand)

INSTRUCTIONS

Chicken & Marinade

  • Grab your chicken. If it’s frozen, do this the night before. And don’t scoff at the idea of frozen chicken. OF COURSE we all want fresh chicken. But sometimes we don’t get to the store and we have it in the freezer and we’ll all survive. If your chicken is not frozen, then do this anywhere from 1 to 12 hours before you plan on grilling. Any longer and you risk cooking your chicken in the lemon juices…like your own little chicken ceviche. Doesn’t that sound tasty?
  • Use either a bowl that has a tightly fitting lid or large plastic baggies. You’ll want to make sure your chicken has lots of room to move around, so use the right size bowl or two baggies depending on the size of your bird’s breasties. Place said breasts in the bowl or baggy. Cover them with all the marinade ingredients. The beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can kind of customize it to your desire…if you like things super lemon-y or garlic-y, you can add more than I recommend.
  • If you’re using a bowl, then cover tightly, give a little shake to make everything mingle and place in the fridge. If you’re using a plastic baggy, might I recommend you either put the baggy in a large bowl or double baggy it so that you don’t have chicken juice and marinade glazing the inside of your Frigidaire? Nothing’s more annoying than preparing an easy dinner and then having to clean out the inside of your refrigerator at the end of a long day.
  • Occasionally revisit your chicken and give it a little shake, rattle and roll to make sure the flavors are hitting all the breast nooks and crannies.

Tzatziki

  • Another easy one…mix all ingredients and refrigerate. I could try to make this sound like brain surgery, but who are we kidding? Like the above marinade, if you love lemon, add more. Hate garlic, add less. If you want to add parsley and mint, have at it. I like to put an olive oil float on top and a sprinkling of extra herbs. Just to add a little flair…
  • I have to note that to be true to tzatziki’s Greek roots you would add dill, if any herb. So if you’re a purist, go that direction. Clearly, I’m not.

Back to the Chicken

  • At this point, I would put rice on. My kids love this meal with rice, so why don’t you go run and do that. I didn’t mention that earlier because this isn’t a meal plan…I’m just saying…it goes well.
  • Set the chicken on the counter to let the chill get off of the meat so that it will grill more evenly. If it’s 90 degrees F in your house, leave it in the fridge.
  • Heat up the grill to a nice medium and put your chicken on. Discard your marinade at this point. As an aside, make sure your grill is nice and clean, we don’t want any other flavors but the rosemary and lemon coming through.
  • I’m assuming that your breasts are about the same size as my breasts, in which case you would do about five minutes per side. Don’t leave them and go paint your nails. You’re gonna wanna watch these little honey’s because there is nothing worse than over- or under-cooked chicken. I always put the lid down on the BBQ, set the timer on my phone for 5 and take this as an opportunity to sit outside and do nothing. After 5, flip them and repeat.
  • I use the edge of my grilling spatula to gently press down on the chicken. If it feels like jelly and some pink juices come up, keep the breasties on. If it feels firm, take those babies off and let them rest for five minutes. I call this the calm before the storm. Bye bye breasts.

This is tasty with rice, like I said. Or roasted potatoes in the winter? Oh, and also slices of really fresh cucumber. It’s such a clean meal, it doesn’t need much. And it’s filling. And it’s healthy. And you’ll be able to eat sweets for the rest of the week because you ate so good at the beginning of the week. Which is good, because I have LOTS of sweets coming up. Now get some rest. You did good.


 

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