Heck Ya! It's Elevated (Easy) Lemon Chicken Time!

Are you ready to grilll!!!!! I'm so ready. For several weeks this winter our grill was litterally incased in ice. I would have gone out and taken a picture but the patio was covered in ice as well and I was terrified of slipping. Anyway, 90% of our ice is melted and it's time to start grilling. (By the way, this recipe also works on the stove top especially if you have a grill pan).

This Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken is everyone's favorite way to eat chicken thighs. Its flavors are complex enough that you can serve it to company while it comes together quickly enough to be a weeknight staple. The thing that you can do to elevate this recipe is to use good quality dried herbs de Provence. Although by no means necessary, I particularly like using blends that contain a bit of dried lavender or adding a pinch of dried lavender to your standard herbs de Provence blend.

Note about Messy Grilling:

If you don't use a grill basket for your lemon and garlic, then grilling the garlic for lemon chicken is a bit of an art. We don't use a grill basket because we don't want more things to clean. To follow this method you're going to have to be strategic about your placement on the grill so that things don't fall through. Or you can just throw the garlic away and not worry about it. (I usually lose about 1/3 of my garlic in the grill. Shhh don't tell anyone.)

Note about Herb de Provence:

A good herb and spice blend makes an actual difference in your cooking because the better the quality of the herbs were when they were dried, the better they will taste. If you have the option, I really like adding a pinch of dried lavender as it elevates this recipe. You can use a spice blend without it and add your own, or skip it all together. If you don't have herbs de Provence and you don't want to buy anything else, you can just use dried thyme, dried rosemary, and dried oregano mixed together.

Note about What to Serve with Lemon Garlic Chicken

We eat this chicken with everything (including boxed mac and cheese), but we especailly LOVE serving it along side grilled zucchini or other grilled veggies. Just grill the veggies first and set aside while grilling the chicken. If you decide to go all out and serve this meal with some homemade foccacia, call me first and I'll come over for dinner.

Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken

Significantly Adapted from Jennifer Steinhaur's Weeknight Lemon Chicken breasts with herbs, NYT Cooking

Prep time 10. minutes. Grill time 15 minutes. Time marinating: 2 hours to 1 day.

Ingredients

about 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup dry white wine

4 large cloves of garlic

1.5 teaspoons Diamond kosher salt (or 3/4 teaspoon table salt)

1 tablespoon dried herbs de Provence (+1/4 teaspoon dried lavender)

1 large lemon

fresh pepper to taste

STEP ONE

Cut your lemon into thin rounds (between 1/4 and 1/8th of an inch thick and remove any seeds). Smash your 4 cloves garlic with the flat side of a knife. You don't want the garlic breaking up too much, because you're going to grill the bigger pieces.

STEP TWO

In a measuring cup or small mixing bowl add 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup white wine, 1.5 teaspoons diamond kosher salt, 1 tablespoon herbs de provence and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Mix to combine.

STEP THREE

Using either a large mixing bowl or a gallon sized sealable plastic bag, place your chicken thighs in the bag and then add the lemon, and garlic. Then pour the dressing over top. If using a mixing bowl, mix ingredients together with your hands or seal your freezer bag and massage ingredients around the chicken until evenly distributed.

STEP FOUR

Allow chicken to marinate for 2-24 hours. The longer it sits the better it will taste.

STEP FIVE

Preheat grill on medium high. Spread chicken thighs out on the hottest part of the grill and either space garlic and lemon slices around the grill or add lemon and garlic to a grill basket. Grill chicken for about 7 minutes on each side until tempearture reads 165 on a meat thermometer. Grill lemon slices and garlic until they take on color and begin to blister a bit. Plate and serve!