Marinated Chicken

J and I have recently fallen in love with a new Lawry's marinade: Herb and Garlic.  It's amazing, to put it quite simply. If you want to plan ahead, take a gallon size freezer plastic bag, toss your chicken breasts, thighs, etc. in and drown it in marinade! If you are scrambling to get something put together for dinner, then just slather the marinade on the chicken as you grill it! Totally just as delicious! Can you tell by now that I love items and recipes that provide options?!

J and I prefer to marinate the chicken overnight at minimum, sometimes even marinating the chicken for 48 hours (even better for those of you that plan way ahead!). So, here's how we do it.  Thaw out one pack of chicken breasts (3-4 breasts), thighs, etc. Once thawed out, go ahead and toss the chicken into a plastic bag.  I use a gallon-sized freezer bag.  Drown it in the marinade. I mark the time that I put everything in the bag so that the chicken can marinate for at least 22-24 hours. Pop it in the fridge for the night/following day (or 2 days as we do sometimes!). Make sure to lay it flat on the fridge shelf so that the chicken is not getting marinated unevenly! If you remember, flip over the following morning to make sure that every part of the chicken gets equal cover time!

Once the chicken has marinated for long enough, we grill it (best way to cook it, in my opinion). J loves to grill so that there is a bit of char on the meat. At first, I was a little turned off by it because I thought he was intentionally burning the meat.  Then I realized, he's just adding a little extra crisp and flavor, and I came to love it.  I mean, how good does this look?:

The best part of this marinade is that the chicken will go with essentially anything.  We ate it with spinach ravioli and marinara sauce (Check it out here!) a few weeks ago.  Tonight, we experimented and ate it with coleslaw - a summer staple for us. It was equally as amazing! Of course, I ate my signature dessert as a side, but who's keep track right?! ;)

Want to spice this recipe up? Why not toss some shrimp into the marinade bag, as well?! Quarter some red potatoes, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and rosemary and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes (Depends on how crispy you like your taters!). Now that's a meal!

Homemade Chicken Salad

Summer is the perfect time for salads: spring salad, fruit salad, tuna salad, and chicken salad (my favorite!).  I could go on and on, but you get the idea! With so many fresh fruits and veggies available at the local grocery stores, plus all the farmer's markets open - your choices are endless!  J and I personally are HUGE fans of making chicken or tuna salad during the summer.  The chicken salad is my favorite of all just because it is SUCH a good blend of so many different flavors!  It's great because you can use all that left over chicken from last nights' dinner, use a Rotisserie chicken, OR the canned chicken/salmon/tuna is always an option as well! Right from the start there are SO many options, and that's exactly what I love about this recipe!

I'm going to be totally honest (let's face it - I usually am!): This is actually MY recipe that I came up with.  It's actually inspired by Folk's (aka Po'folks back in the day). It's not quite the Folk's recipe, and it's actually taken on a life of its own (and kind of moved away from the Folk's recipe).

Close up of the yumminess that is chicken salad!

Ingredients:
Chicken (Duh! The amount is totally dependent on how much you want to make.  We generally use left over rotisserie chicken - all of it)
Mayo (this is also not measured as it is to your personal taste)
1/8 tsp Garlic
1/4-1/2 Cup grapes, sliced in half
1/4-1/2 Cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper

Directions:
1. Take 2 forks and shred the chicken REALLY well - no chunks in this chicken salad!
2. Add mayo to taste (Again - no real measurement as this is totally based on personal preference).

How can you NOT fall in love with
that cheesy goodness???

3. Toss in garlic and pepper.  Mix well.
4. Add in grapes and shredded cheese.  Mix well.

Now, you can enjoy that deliciousness with a fork (which if it's your first time, I highly recommend).  OR if you want to take it a step further, you can eat it on crackers.  If you're a connoisseur, like me, then you may want to take it to the last step: Chicken. Salad. Melt. Yes, you read that right, my friends!

After you make the chicken salad, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Take 2 slices of bread, add mayo to one side of each piece.  Top one slice with shredded cheese (or a slice of cheese) of your choice, and on the other slice, pile on the chicken salad. Yes - pile it on.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes.  Put slices together as a sandwich and put back in the oven for another 3-5 minutes (depends on how toasted you like your bread!).  Flip the sandwich over, and put back in the oven another 2-3 minutes.  Take out of the oven and enjoy! J likes his with Wickles, but I just like my chicken salad piled on with no other flavors added. :)

J's favorite way to eat his chicken salad melt!