Lemon Grilled Chicken

This is an easy, delicious, and healthy recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks entitled Food That Says Welcome by Barbara Smith (mother of Michael W. Smith). Greg and I eat a lot of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, so I am always looking for new ways to prepare them. This has become one of our favorites.

Ingredients:

4 (6 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

5 teaspoons grated lemon rind (about 2 large lemons or 3 regular sized lemons)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 ½ teaspoon oregano

¾ teaspoon kosher or sea salt (less if you use regular table salt)

½ teaspoon black pepper (I use about 8 twists of my pepper mill)

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

4 lemon wedges

Instructions:

1)      Heat your grill. I set my indoor grill on high and my outdoor gas grill on medium.

2)      Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and flatten with a meat mallet or rolling pin to about ¼ to 1/3 of an inch thick. Don’t pound too hard – you don’t want to end up with raw chicken mush.

3)      Combine the lemon rind and the next six ingredients. This will look more like a rub than a marinade.

4)      Spread the mixture evenly on both sides of each chicken breast.

5)      Grill over direct heat on both sides until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes each side.

6)      Remove from the heat and squeeze a lemon wedge over each piece before serving.

Notes:

• If you don’t have one, you need to get a microplane grater for zesting. They cost around $10.00 at places like Bed, Bath & Beyond. This makes grating the lemon rind super simple.
• When you grate the rind, make sure you don’t grate too much into the white part – it’s bitter.
• This chicken is great on top of a salad.