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Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe. This simply grilled chicken dish can be prepared in a variety of different styles–from French and Italian to Mexican and Asian. It makes for a perfect excuse to blow the dust of your grill and say hello to summer.

Servings: Serves 4. Can be doubled or tripled easily.

All 4 versions of this recipe have chicken in common. Then each has its own marinade, veggie combo, and dressing for the veggies. So you can be hungry for any option and have a quick, easy meal on the grill. Use a recipe like this one for a quick weeknight meal or for friends and family gathering on the weekend. Try one or all the different styles.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast portions
• Veggies. Choose the ones you like. I’d make sure if you are just serving veggies and meat that you have about 1.5 cups of veggies per person. You don’t need to use all of the veggies on the list for your grilling choice. These are just veggie suggestions that will fit the theme of French, Italian, Mexican or Asian.

Instructions:

The first thing to do is to pound down the chicken breasts. By making them thinner they cook faster on the grill. People worry about getting chicken done on the grill and not drying it out or burning it. This works great.

Take a large ziplock baggie. Put each piece of chicken in, one at a time. Pound with your meat mallet until the chicken is ½” thick or less. The thinner the breast is, the faster it will cook but ½” is enough.

Then you are going to put your chicken in your marinade. For richer flavor you can leave the chicken in the marinade for up to 4 hours. But if you are in a hurry, even 15 minutes will give you a tasty chicken. I know. Mine never gets to stay in the marinade long.

In a small bowl, mix your marinade. Choose either: French, Italian, Mexican, or Asian (see recipes below).

Put the chicken in a container (a 9″ x 13″ pan works great). Pour the marinade over and toss the chicken around so it gets fully covered. Let it sit in the refrigerator for the flavors to meld. If you are going to let it sit in there long, cover it so your whole refrigerator doesn’t end up smelling like marinade.

While the chicken is marinating you can cut your veggies. You’ll want them in big, bite-sized chunks. Spray them with olive oil spray to prep them for the grill.

Heat your grill to medium-high. Take the chicken out of the marinade and place it on the grill rack. Cook approximately 4 minutes per side depending on how hot your grill is. Don’t be tempted to mess with them too much. If you leave them alone you get those coveted grill marks.  Cut into the thickest part of a piece of chicken to make sure no pink remains, but they should still be juicy on the inside.

While the chicken is cooking you can also grill your veggies. You’ll want a grill basket or grill tray so the veggies don’t fall through the grill gaps. Season your veggies with grated sea salt and pepper. Grill right along the chicken. These you can stir often to get them evenly cooked.  Depending on your grill, they should get done about the same time.

Remove the chicken from the grill. Set on a clean platter.

Remove the veggies from the grill and put them in bowl. You’ll add your dressing and stir them around so the veggies get lightly coated.  You can always add more dressing if you want.

If you are cooking for a crowd and not everything will fit on the grill at the same time, keep in mind this dish is really good served room temperature too.

Marinades, Veggies, and Dressings

French marinade

• ½ cup of olive oil
• 2 Tbl of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 Tsp of Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp of minced garlic or a sprinkle of dry garlic will work too
• 1 tsp of minced, fresh tarragon or ½ tsp of dried tarragon
• ¼ tsp of grated sea salt or to taste
• fresh ground black pepper to taste

French Veggie options

• asparagus
• shallots
• onions
• scallions
• green beans or hericot verts (French beans)
• button mushrooms
• cherry tomatoes (put these on your grill at the end of cooking)
• bell peppers (any colors)

French Dressing Options

• balsamic vinaigrette
• French vinaigrette
• Champagne vinaigrette
• Or your favorite French dressing. I’d would not use the orange French dressing. Too much sugar.

Italian marinade

• ½ cup of olive oil
• 2 Tbl of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 Tsp of Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp of minced garlic or a sprinkle of dry garlic will work too
• ½ tsp of Italian seasoning blend
• ¼ tsp of grated sea salt or to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Italian Veggie options:

• Zucchini
• Summer squash
• Eggplant (I use baby eggplant or Chinese. They have fewer seeds)
• Onions
• Scallions
• Button mushrooms
• Bell peppers (any colors)
• Cherry tomatoes (put these on your grill at the end of cooking)

Italian Dressing options (1 – 2 Tbl)

• Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Any Italian dressing
• Caesar dressing

If you’re new to marinating here’s a helpful video that covers the basics.

Enjoy!

Cheers,