Marinated Chicken with Sauteed Kale

I stumbled across the recipe we're sharing today on one of the blogs I follow. It's from the Dinner: A Love Story blog and it's a marinated chicken recipe. She had a cute introduction story about the recipe that really made me want to try it. Her sister had tried the recipe at a friend's luncheon and raved about it so much that the blog author replicated the recipe, made it, and then raved about it herself. So I guess I wanted to see if it really was that good... And I think it merited all the raving! You can read her blog post here. She paired the chicken with sauteed kale which I also decided to do. I also added quinoa to round out the meal.

If you're looking to change up your ordinary chicken meal then I highly recommend this! Patrick was a fan as well. The one drawback to the recipe is that it requires a bit of planning and forethought. The chicken needs to marinate for at least 8 hours or overnight. I kept forgetting to do it the night before (there were a few days that I was planning this and forgot to start the marinating); I actually ended up just marinating for a full day by prepping the marinade in the morning.

The friend who hosted the lunch was apparently a Trish and this is dubbed Trish's Marinated Chicken so without further ado...

Trish's Marinated Chicken from Dinner A Love Story
Ingredients
2 tablespoons mayo
1/4 cup olive oil
squeeze of agave (or honey) *I used honey
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
salt & pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
squeeze of lemon
fresh rosemary, thyme or torn basil leaves *I used some of my hydroponic basil
Four medium size chicken breasts, pounded thin *I bought thin sliced chicken breasts

Directions
In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients and, along with chicken, add to a ziploc. Marinate eight hours or overnight, flipping in the fridge at some point if you can. When you are ready to cook, heat a stovetop grill to medium-high, and brush with a tiny bit of olive oil. Grill chicken pieces about four minutes a side (let excess marinade drip off before you place on grill) or until chicken is firm but not rock hard. Serve with Kale-Brussel hash below.

Dinner: A Love Story's Own Kale-Brussels Hash

   Directly from her blog:

Add a small piece of smoky bacon to a skillet set over medium heat. Once fat has rendered, add a little olive oil and cook a few tablespoons of onions or shallots (chopped) until soft. Add salt and pepper, maybe a few red pepper flakes if you are so inclined, then a few healthy handfuls of shredded kale and shaved brussels sprouts. Cook until just barely wilted (and still bright green) and add to a serving bowl. Drizzle with a little cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar) to taste. You can chop the bacon into small pieces if you feel like it...

My Notes:

   For the fresh herbs in the marinade, I used fresh basil. I bruised the leaves (with the end of a knife) to release the oils before throwing them into the marinade.    For the kale I did not add in Brussels sprouts. In my Harris Teeter kale is sold by weight and the Brussels sprouts are prepackaged. For this reason I bought the right amount of kale for this dish (we planned for leftovers) and then didn't have to worry about making sure the remaining Brussels sprouts were eaten in another meal.

It was a perfect night to break out the outdoor dining table for the inaugural first use of the season!