Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Thyme

This is my entry for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging round up. This blogging event was started by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen. The round up is hosted this week by Joanna from Joanna's Food - be sure to pop by to see what other bloggers have come up with. It has been about 7 weeks since I've participated with WWB what with preparing for vacation, vacation, and returning from vacation!

I was a wee bit confused about the origins of this recipe. I found it in a 'magazine' cookbook I picked up in the summer of 2006 Weber's Simple Summer Grilling. This book is a favourite of mine because the recipes are quick and easy to pull together. When I was getting ready to write this post I googled the recipe (because it is far easy to copy and paste rather than type it all in) and the only hit was from the Cooking Light site. To whom should I give the credit?

When I investigated further I found that the Weber magazine was published by the same company that owned Cooking Light. I guess when you publish the magazine you can republish at will and provide no credit. Hmmm

While this recipe isn't quick (it requires two hours of marinating - causing me to leave work early one day in order to get it in the marinade in time) it is simple. Take th marinading out and the cooking time is about 15 minutes. That is simple!

Lemon and thyme is a classic combination - most often paired with chicken or fish. To me the flavours remind me of the Mediterranean region - fresh, subtle, yet complex.

We served this with grilled asparagus and an orzo salad. It was the perfect summer meal (even if summer doesn't start until tomorrow).

Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Thyme

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
1/4 cup chopped fresh or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
16 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray

Place first 5 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken; seal bag. Chill 2 hours, turning occasionally.

Prepare grill or broiler.

Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Place chicken on grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray; cook 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is done.

Yield: 

8 servings (serving size: 2 thighs)

CALORIES 212 (30% from fat); FAT 7.1g (sat 1.6g,mono 2.9g,poly 1.5g); IRON 1.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 115mg; CALCIUM 23mg; CARBOHYDRATE 9.8g; SODIUM 266mg; PROTEIN 27.4g; FIBER 0.4g

Comments

[Joanna]

Marinading is always such a good flavour-adder, and you're right, it doesn't make it take much longer to cook, you've just got to start a little earlier!

Joanna

[Jerry]

It really is all in the planning!

[Natashya]

Great summer grilling recipe. I really like the platter too.

[Jerry]

Thanks natashya - it is amazing hom much I miss grilling in the dead of winter.

[Jude]

That picture looks great.. There's something about grill marks and asparagus...

[Jerry]

Thanks Jude - grilled asparagus is one of my favourites!