Lemon Thyme Chicken

This is a great and easy way of infusing chicken breast with an herby and tangy marinade. You can prepare the marinade in minutes, then leave the chicken to marinate in it in the fridge before grilling 15 minutes before you're planning on serving your meal. That's all the time it takes for the chicken to be cooked thoroughly but still remain the right amount moist and juicy. The quick marinade includes fresh or dried thyme, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper. The earthy herbs and the citrus will infuse the chicken meat with great flavors and once you grill the breasts, the marinade will caramelize slightly with the heat giving you pieces of chicken of beautiful appearance and sublime flavor. Serve with your favorite sides for a wholesome meal and perhaps use the same grill for some zucchini, eggplant, and peppers to serve alongside the chicken. Perfect on rice, potatoes, and even garlic pasta, this chicken is very versatile. Use leftovers to make chicken wraps with ham and cheese, or slice and top a bowl of greens for a low-carb diet, or place on top of steamed quinoa or farro for a protein-packed lunch.

For best results, we recommend buying air-chilled chicken. This means that once the chicken is slaughtered, the cooling process that prevents harmful bacteria from growing needs to happen fast. Some factories choose to cool the birds in chilled water and some with cool air. If done with water, the bird will absorb unnecessary moisture that will affect the flavor, but most importantly, will affect the weight and you'll end up paying more for less. Once you have the breasts ready for the marinade, flatten the chicken to nearly half its thickness by covering it with plastic wrap and using a kitchen mallet or rolling pin to thin out the meat. Having thinner cuts allows the marinade to penetrate more efficiently. 

Once the chicken is on the grill, discard any remaining marinade, as it can't be reused, much less consumed. However, if you enjoy these flavors, unused marinade is in itself a great dressing to coat root vegetables before roasting or to add to cold pasta salads—for this option use dry thyme instead of fresh to avoid the difficulty of chewing on raw thyme leaves.