Ten Herb Grilled Chicken — ’tis the season

It’s starting to get hot outside, the days are growing longer & all sorts of green things are leafing out in my gardens. All three of those facts combine to form the perfect opportunity to grill 10 herb marinated chicken. Are you wondering if I really used ten different herbs?

Well, I actually did!

How many can you identify?

How about if I lay them out?

Here’s the list of herbs I used:

• Italian parsley
• curly parsley 
• English thyme
• kitchen thyme
• orange mint
• chocolate mint
• sage
• chives
• cilantro
• trailing rosemary 
• upright rosemary
• Greek oregano

Well, that’s actually 12. But, not counting the multiple varieties of rosemary and thyme, 10 herbs were used!

I grow everything except the cilantro & curly parsley. Growing herbs is the way to go – especially for expensive herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano etc. Herbs are so easy to grow, requiring very — little except a sunny spot, quality soil and regular watering. Whether you grow them on your deck in a pot or in your flower bed next to your hedge and ornamentals – you’ll be so glad you have them on hand come dinnertime!

Depending on the zone you live in and the variety of herb – many herbs will return year after year.

I’m also growing 4 varieties of basil and 2 varieties of dill. However, the basil is not ready to be harvested and the dill is so strong, I knew it would overtake the other more mild herb flavors.

For this marinade, I also added parmigiano reggiano, garlic, lemon (zest + juice) and jalapeño (seeds and all).

Once all of the ingredients are combined in the food processor, add 2-3 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.   As you can see, I didn’t worry about removing the green, tender stems. However, I did remove the woody stems (from the rosemary, oregano and thyme).

Drizzle 1 c olive oil (or canola) into the bowl of the food processor and pulse to combine.

Isn’t that color gorgeous?

I found the most gigantic chicken breasts at Sprouts this weekend. Rather than leaving them whole, I (I mean hubby) cut them into 3″ chunks. That allowed the marinade to cover more surface area for maximum flavor.

I reserved one cup of marinade to use as a dipping sauce, tossed the chicken to coat. Cover and refrigerate until grill-time; 4 hours to overnight is a good range of time for a chicken marinade.

All that’s left is to grill, serve and eat!

I love how green those herbs stayed even after grilling.

So flavorful & juicy. The first herb I noticed when testing the salt (before pouring over the chicken) was rosemary. But after the chicken marinaded and was grilled, the flavors all blended together into a bright, universal herbiness (is that really a word, um no) with a pop of lemon + garlic and just the right punch of heat — thanks to the jalapeño.

Thanks to the parmigiano reggiano the herb marinade seemed to stick nicely to the chicken while grilling, creating a crisp outer coating. SO SO GOOD.

So, I leave you with these simple summer instructions ‘Go, Grow and Grill’ – it will make for a happy summer.