Simple Grilled Chicken Dinner

We've had some unseasonably cool weather the past week or so here in New Jersey. Since it's been so glorious outside of an evening, eating outside is the perfect way to enjoy the weather. Usually, by August it's so hot and humid that dinner inside where the air conditioning is on is much more appealing.


In my search for something simple to make for dinner, I turned to the August issue of Cooking Light. Last weekend I picked up a 5 pound bag of lemons when I was shopping, with so many lemons on hand the Lemon-Grilled Chicken Breasts sounded appealing. The chicken is marinated only for 30 minutes, which works well for a weeknight meal. The simplicity of the marinade appealed to me when I began putting the meal together.

I served the grilled chicken with a rice pilaf, grilled Vidalia onions and steamed broccoli. The meal as a whole was very satisfying. My only change would be to add a bit more seasoning to the marinade. It needs something more than lemon to really take it to the next level where it would be a truly fantastic meal. I've made Cooking Light's Lemon Oregano Rubbed Chicken previously and the flavor profile is so much more interesting than this particular recipe. For a quick meal that went over reasonably well with the family I could make this without a lot of planning or thought.

Now, Cooking Light does recommend saving 3 of the chicken breasts for dinner another night using their recipe for Hearts of Romaine Caeser Salad with Grilled Chicken. This might be the best use of these chicken breasts, dressing them up in a Caeser dressing.

Lemon-Grilled Chicken Breasts
Source: Cooking Light, August 2008

Ingredients
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray

Preparation
1. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper.
3. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 6 minutes on each side or until done.

Check out these grilling recipes while summer is still hanging around:

Grilled Ribeye with Garlic Butter from Mr. Orph's Kitchen
Grilled Teriyaki Salmon and Fresh Corn and Scallion Timbales at Dinners for a Year and Beyond
Grilled Pitas with Carmelized Onions and Goat Cheese for something a little different at Sweetnicks.