Garlic & Herb Marinated Chicken Thighs

With summer in full swing, the weather is hot, the grills are going... I read about all these fun summer food festivals around the country: Ribfest in Illinois, Pineapple Festival in Hawaii, K-Town BBQ Cook Off & Texas Music Concert in Texas, Food For Thought's Green Cuisine in Michigan, Portland International Beer Festival in Oregon, Jazz & Rib Fest in Ohio, Louisiana Watermelon Festival in Louisiana... why doesn't Louisville have anything exciting like this? Sure, we just had the SoulFood Festival & Taste of Frankfort... but seriously, I think there would be a huge market for more food-related, festival-type activity in Louisville... so let's get on that, okay? Okay.

Speaking of grilling and summer, you could easily sub the chicken thighs for chicken breasts and just cook accordingly, but I'm a fan of the lower cost and juicier outcome of chicken thighs. The marinade is surely interchangeable with other meats as well.


Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon lemon zest
juice from 1 lemon

Combine all ingredients, except for chicken, in a large plastic freezer bag. Make sure they are mixed well and add in chicken thighs. Remove bag of air and seal tightly. Roll the bag up and place into a medium bowl (to prevent any leaking out onto your fridge shelf) in the fridge. Let marinate for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat a grill to medium high. Soak a wad of paper towels with vegetable oil and carefully rub on grill rack to prevent chicken from sticking.

Grill chicken for about 5-7 minutes per side (or if using breasts, a little less than that), or until cooked through.

We served this with a quick ranch pasta salad!

I love the quick cook time of this dish. Yeah, you've got to marinate it overnight, but that's just something you have to throw in a bunch of ingredients in a bag and forget about until the next day. Easy enough, right? Right. Enjoy!