Zesty Lime and Cilantro Grilled Chicken

What’s up ya’ll.

So, now that I’ve got the blog up and running again, I can begin to back track and post what I’ve been cooking/eating/reading/traveling/thinking/experimenting, the last several months.

With Memorial Day behind us and the 4th of July ahead of us, I figured what better way to kick off the summer fun then with some outdoor grilling.

Now, I’m not talking about lame gas grilling.

I’m talking about get-your-hands-dirty-in-some-charcoal-open-flame grilling.

After watching my dad flip steaks on the grill for as long as I can remember, my first stab at grilling solo came like second nature.

The countless episodes of Bobby Flay’s “Boy Meets Grill” helped too, but I’d like to say that it was Poppa Bernal that was responsible for this one.

Here’s what you need:

1. Charcoal Chimney Starter (you can buy at Home Depot)
2. Charcoal or brickets
3. A charcoal grill
4. A grill brush
5. A few newspaper pages
6. Long safety lighter
7. Grilling tongs
8. Your food of choice to grill, in this case it was chicken thighs, zucchini, squash and apricots
9. Your beverage of choice, in this case it was Stella Organics biodynamic pinot noir

Mali’s All Natural Lump Charcoal, $9.99. I prefer not to use match ready charcoal that’s drenched in lighter fluid. Yuck.

Basic charcoal grill you can pick up at any home goods store for about $90.

Charcoal chimney starter, $15.

Grilling brush, $7.

Stellar Organics, sulfite free Shiraz. Very tasty.

Prepare your grilling food.

I started by marinating 6 chicken thighs in my Zesty Lime and Cilantro Marinade.

For this you will need (organic):

• cilantro
• 2 limes
• 1 lemon
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 red onion
• 4 stalks green onion
• olive oil
• paprika
• Mexican seasoning
• cayenne pepper
• Celtic Sea Salt

Directions for Zesty Lime and Cilantro Marinade:

1. Place the chicken in a glass casserole dish, and drizzle evenly with olive oil.
2. Squeeze the juice of the 2 limes and 1 lemon onto the chicken, and add Mexican seasoning, cayenne pepper, paprika and Celtic Sea Salt.
3. Chop the cilantro, garlic, red onion, and green onion and add to the chicken.
4. Use your (clean) hands to massage the marinade into the chicken to evenly coat all sides. (Using your hands adds your love and energy to the food)
5. Allow to marinade in the frig for 4-6 hours.

Grilling ingredients (organic): chicken thighs, olive oil, cilantro, red onion, limes, lemon, garlic, green onion, Mexican seasoning, cayenne pepper, paprika.

Apricots, zucchini and summer squash for my fruits and veggies. Grill the apricot face down.

Marinated chicken getting ready for the grill!

Grilling Directions

1. Clean the grill with your grilling brush, removing an leftover burnt matter from your last grilling excursion.
2. Put enough charcoal or brikets to fill the top of the tower and place directly on top of the grill.
3. Place a few newspaper pages under the tower and with your safety lighter, light the newspaper.
4. Allow the brikets to light on fire, once they are white hot, carefully spread the charcols in the lower level of the grill. You will have to take off the top grill level in order to do this.
5. Put the top level back on and allow the heat to warm up the grill.
6. After a few minutes, place your chicken evenly on the grill. Put the lid on the grill, and open the vents at the bottom and top of the grill about half way. Allow to cook on the first side for 15-20 minutes.
7. Check your chicken, flip, and grill on the other side for another 15 minutes. At this time you can add your vegetables, and fruit (grilled fruit like apricots and pineapples are great for bbq add-on’s).
8. Try to avoid overly flipping your food. If you time it appropriately, once or twice should be enough.
9. Of course, you can take a piece of the chicken off and cut through it to make sure it’s cooked all way.

And that’s about it! Grilling can be so easy, it’s just a matter of practice. So don’t be scared to get started!

Ok, off to clean the house and mow the lawn. Have a stellar Saturday!