For Your Grilling Pleasure

As the weather progressively begins it's ascent into warmer temperatures, we tend to spend a lot more time outdoors.  My boys spend their time riding their bikes, playing in the mud, swimming in the pool, and chasing frogs.  Mr. Spouse starts spending more and more time poolside listening to Buffett and watching sports.  This is his domain.  His outdoor "man cave", if you will.  And this is the time of the year when he starts cooking more and more.  Halleluia.  Amen.

We tend to grill a ton as the weather gets warmer.  Okay.  Adam grills a ton.  I'm responsible for the sides. I like that division of labor.  I love those kind of meals.  Easy to prep.  Easy to clean.  And typically our grilling efforts result in much leaner eating, too :)  Can't complain about that!

Last night we fired up the grill as part of our inaugural spring cooking meal.  The boys swam for a bit.  I stayed in and prepped the sides (in peace and quiet....SCORE!).  And Mr. Spouse grilled.  Have I mentioned how much I love this time of the year?!  

I'm not the biggest fan of grilled chicken.  I prefer my chicken fried with lots of white gravy.  But because my waistline and my heart prefer me to stay away from foods like that, I find myself planning for several grilled/baked/shredded chicken based meals each week.  I'm always searching for different ways to make this protein more palatable.  I knew I wanted to grill for our inaugural spring dinner, so when I found this recipe I thought it would fit the bill perfectly.  

The combo of lime and basil piqued my interest.  Two flavors I absolutely LOVE.  I knew we had to at least give it a shot!  I was craving french fries (shocker), but I resisted the urge and instead took a couple of sweet potatoes I bought last week and baked up some deliciously amazing sweet potato fries to go with our meal.  A very, very random combo.  Steamed broccoli rounded out our dishes and that, my friends, is what I would consider a pretty darn great spring meal!  

BASIL & LIME CHICKEN

via Goodness Gracious

3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cut into equal sized cutlets

CHICKEN MARINADE

2 limes (zest & juice)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

3 TBSP Dijon mustard

3 TBSP olive oil

3 TBSP soy sauce (we used the low sodium version)

3 green onions, chopped

Salt & pepper, to taste

TOPPING

1/4 C. olive oil

3 green onions, chopped

1 lime (zest & juice)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 TBSP. chopped basil

In a large bowl, whisk all ingredients for the chicken marinade.  Whisk until combined.  

Take your chicken and cut it into equal sized cutlets and toss 'em in a gallon sized ziplock baggie.

Now toss in the chicken marinade you just whisked.  Give it a nice shake to coat all  of the cutlets with the marinade and set aside for an hour.

While the chicken is soaking up the delicious flavors of the marinade, go ahead and prep the topping for the grilled chicken.

In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the topping and whisk until combined. Set aside.

After your chicken has had a chance to soak up the marinade, remove it from the baggie and place on your preheated grill.  

Grill 'em up for about 7 minutes and then flip 'em.  And repeat.  

Remove chicken from the grill.  Spoon a nice little helping of the topping on your serving of chicken.  This takes the dish to a whole new level, so don't skip this part :)  

Serve with your choice of sides and enjoy!!!! 

For someone who doesn't prefer the taste of grilled chicken, I sure did enjoy this meal.  Like I said earlier, lime and basil are two of my favorite flavors and this was just the right amount of both!!  It scored two thumbs up...and several trips back for 2nd's & 3rd's...from Mr. Spouse, so I would definitely say this grilled chicken recipe was a winner!  We will definitely be revisiting this dish in the warm months ahead!!!  And maybe next time we'll pair it up with one of our favorite cocktails...BEERGARITAS!!!!  Winner, winner chicken dinner!!!