Category: Grilled Chicken

Chicken is a blank slate upon which you can add great flavor. And with the intense marinade of this Italian lemon-pepper grilled chicken, you'll be adding lots of it. If you're planning on using the chicken breasts whole for sandwiches, try pounding out the breasts to about half their normal thickness before marinating and adjust the cooking time accordingly. If not, these breasts are great chopped up in pasta dishes, whole with couscous, in a grilled chicken salad, in a wrap, or sliced and topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and dijon mustard to make tasty sandwiches of their own.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 16 oz. olive oil
• 5 lemons
• 1 lime
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flake
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tbs. freshly ground black pepper, ground both coarse and fine

STEPS:

1. Remove the zest from lemons and lime using a small grater, and place zest into a large bowl. Add juice of lemons (no seeds) and lime, olive oil, onion, garlic, oregano, basil, cilantro, red pepper flake, salt, and pepper. Mix together and let stand for 20 minutes, and you've got your marinade.
2. Insert 8 chicken breasts into a heavy-duty, 1 gallon zip-top bag. Pour marinade into bag over breasts and seal bag tight, allowing no excess air. Using your hands, squish the bag such that the breasts and the marinade are mixed together as thoroughly as possible. Marinate in refrigerator overnight.
3. Heat grill to medium high. Let chicken breasts sit at room temperature in marinade for 30 minutes before grilling, then grill breasts for 8-10 minutes per side or until internal temperature reaches 165 F. Let stand 5 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Recipe submitted by Brian Granahan.