Lemon Basil Chicken Marinade

Pin It Life has recently given me lemons.  Lemons that I thought were going to be sour, but they turned out to be semi-sweet.  Everything happens for a reason.  I won't get into all the detail on my specific lemons, but I will get into a common philosophy on lemons in general.  This has nothing to do with the lemons I got, just a pure coincidence.

When life gives you lemons, squeeze some in your water and drink it, every day.  Organic lemon water is my new healthy habit.  I recently started drinking lemon water every morning after reading about its alkalizing effects on the body*.  Alkalizing the body is key for overall health.  Although lemons are acidic, once our body metabolizes it, it has an alkalizing effect.  Strange, right?!  I have no idea how it works.  Turns out there is a lot more to benefit from lemons than just your body's PH balance and I love the taste.  What can lemon do for you?  From clearing the skin to boosting your immune system, the benefits are endless.  To read about some of the benefits click here & here

**One thing to note though, is that you should thoroughly rinse your mouth after drinking lemon water (all things acidic, actually) before brushing your teeth to protect your tooth enamel from the acid.  Waiting a half hour before brushing is also a good idea. Drinking with a straw can reduce the effects on your teeth.  I am not a dentist.**

I also love cooking with Lemons.  Lemons add a perfect amount of zing to a pasta sauce or marinade.  I made a delicious Lemon Garlic Basil Chicken Marinade.  Though chicken is acidic, I like to go by the philosophy of moderation (Geeze, I must be feeling philosophical today or something) and I love me some chicken (Organic, that is - I have watched more than my share of documentaries on the food industry recently, but more on that in another post (more philosophy, anyone?)), especially hot off the grill after being marinated in the flavors of summer.  Who needs marinade in a bottle when you can throw a good, fresh, healthy marinade together in less than 5 minutes?  I think it's time we step away from the processed bottled goods and go back to what is natural and simple.  Lemons.  Basil.  Garlic.  Olive Oil.  Doesn't get much simpler than that.  

How many different bottles of salad dressings and marinades do you have in your fridge?  What's even more freaky is the shelf life on these suckers!   You have to think that a homemade dressing would maybe last a week in the fridge, so what's in those puppies making them last eons? Thankfully, I don't like the bottled dressings in Europe or I would be too embarrassed to tell you the number in my fridge.  I am guessing I had around 6-8 when I was in the US and rarely did I finish the bottle.  Talk about waste.  Waste of money and a waste on the environment.  

The flavors of summer as mentioned above, lemon, garlic & basil, though summer seems to have a million perfect flavors.  Just one more thing I la-la-love about summer.  Tip: If you use a lot of garlic in your cooking, the Garlic Zoom by Chef'n is a great way to chop/mince with little effort on your part.  Leaves fingers less garlicky.  Garlic fingers. Ick.

Throw it all together and let marinade for a few hours in the fridge until you fire up the grill.  Grill until no longer pink in the middle and you have the perfect light summer meat dish.  Pair with a salad or some Zucchini Pasta and you have a great summer meal!  A good, crisp, white wine would be delish.  I may or may not be drooling a little bit.

Lemon Garlic Basil Chicken Marinade

Ingredients:

2 organic chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T fresh basil, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T Olive Oil
1/4 c water
salt & pepper

Directions:

Mix ingredients.  Marinate for about 2 hours in fridge.  Grill until no longer pink in the middle.  Serve hot off the grill!

Bon Appétit!

If you are in more of a lime-y mood, try my Ci-lime-tro Chicken Marinade, packed with more summer flavors! 

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Ci-lime-tro Chicken and a side of Ci-lime-tro Quinoa Summer Salad

Pin It It's finally grilling season.  The temperature has been hovering in the mid 60's for the past week, so we got to start our weekly Saturday grill sessions a bit early this year.  Last year we grilled, regular chicken and burgers all summer long... this year, I think we'll spice it up a bit.  I love lime, it's like a burst of summery flavor.  Before I ever really cooked anything we would make chicken marinated in Newman's Own Lime Vinaigrette with a dash of ginger, which was always a favorite.  This version is definitely a step up.  We started off this grilling season with Ci-lime-tro Chicken and a side of Ci-lime-tro Quinoa Summer Salad, which was the perfect compliment.  Next time, I would just chop the chicken up and throw it in the salad for an all in one dish.  Read on for the juicy details. 

 

Start by cooking the quinoa for Ci-lime-tro Quinoa Summer Salad.  My quinoa is always fluffy ever since I started following these directions on how to make fluffy quinoa.   You will want to start the quinoa ahead of time so it has time to cool before the chicken is ready.  While your quinoa is cooking start marinating the chicken  in the juice of 3 limes, 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar, lots of freshly ground cracked pepper, a dash of salt, a teaspoon of Olive Oil, and about 10 cilantro leaves chopped.  Let the chicken marinate for at least an hour in the fridge (the longer the better to get the best flavor).  When its time, fire up your grill.

Grill your chicken to perfection following these tips from Kayln's Kitchen, 

Dice a tomato, avocado and chop some cilantro for your summer salad.  The best part about this meal is that there is little prep!  You are basically done prepping for your salad at this point.

 Ci-lime-tro Chicken

adapted from My Recipes

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

the juice of three limes

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Olive Oil

10 cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions:

Mix lime juice, sugar, pepper, salt and olive oil.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Add chicken and cilantro.  Mix in a sealable plastic bag and let marinate for at least one hour in the refrigerator.  Grill to perfection.

Voila! Perfectly marinated chicken breast.

Ci-lime-tro Quinoa Summer Salad

Adapted from myrecipes.com

 Ingredients:

3/4 cup (uncooked) quinoa, cooked and cooled

a can of black beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup corn kernels

1 large tomato, diced

1 avocado, diced

2 limes, juiced

1 tsp cumin

roughly 3-4 Tbs chopped Cilantro

Drizzle of Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

*I made this again the other day, and added some chopped yellow pepper, which made it even better because it added the perfect amount of crunch!  I would definitely recommend.

Directions:

Cook quinoa and chill.  Mix quinoa, black beans, corn, tomato, avocado, lime juice, cumin and cilantro.  Drizzle with Olive Oil.  Salt & pepper to taste. Chill and serve.  

Bon Appetit!  Super easy and the flavors come together perfectly.  Perfect for a grill out side dish. 

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