Wok's For Dinner: Lemon Grilled Chicken

I'm realizing more and more that I am my mother's daughter. She could never stick with a recipe and was always experimenting or trying something different. It used to drive me crazy! Growing up, I loved my grandma's Goulash, but whenever I asked my mom to make it, she'd prepare it a completely different way so that it was no longer Grandma's Goulash, but something completely different. I used to be a stickler for sticking to a recipe, but since I started once a month cooking and trying new recipes, I find myself experimenting and creating my own versions of someone else's recipes, instead of staying true to the recipe. Like the Turkey and Bean Tostatdas the other night that became Turkey and Bean Tacos instead. The same is true for tonight's meal. It was supposed to be grilled, but since I had SO many meals to make on my September once a month cooking day, I simply did not want to bother with the grill and baked this meal instead of cooking it. Now baking instead of grilling isn't that much of a recipe change, but I have actually irked myself by following in my mother's footsteps and changing up the recipe! Is that such a bad thing? I hope it isn't, so please forgive me if the steps I choose to take in preparing a good and nutritious meal come across as misleading. One of the purposes of this blog is trying to find balance in my crazy, busy life, and sometimes that means prioritizing how I go about making dinner. :)

Lemon Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lemon

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 cloe garlic, crushed

1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley plus extra sprigs for garnish (I don't have fresh parsley, so I used 1 Tbsp dried parsley and no garnish)

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried marjoram

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions:

Grate half of the lemon peel to make about 1 Tbsp zest. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a bowl. In a large bowl, comine the lemon zest and juice, oil, garlic, parsley, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper. Add the chicken breasts to the bowl and spoon the marinade over the chicken until well coated. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes, or overnight if you have time. Preheat grill to medium heat. Put the chicken pieces on the grill racks, reserving marinade. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 10 minutes on each side. Brush with reserved marinade 2-3 times during cooking. Or, instead of grilling, you can do like I did and bake the chicken for 30 minutes or until cooked through in a 350-degree oven.

If freezing: Cook chicken as indicated above. Place into a food saver bag and seal. Freeze; thaw 24 hours in refrigerator; heat in microwave on a microwave-safe plate & serve with your favorite sides. :)

My son, who is not what you'd call a "meat eater", actually loved his chicken and surprised me by not only eating all that was on his plate, but also requesting seconds and eating all of that as well! I will certainly have to remember this recipe for future menu planning.