Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Grilled Chicken Thighs and Grape Tomatoes

I'm sorry about the long delay since the last time I blogged. I have a sort of big project I'm working on that I'll tell you more about in a couple months and it entails long hours of studying Geometry. I'm trying to remember things I learned in school over (gulp) 20 years ago. I also got to tour the NASA Plum Brook facility twice this past weekend. First when my mom came down and then when the Queen Geek came down. It was a blast. (hee hee hee get it?)
So I think I've eaten out more this past weekend than in the entire past month. And last night as I was frantically re-learning math and feeling sorry for 16 year old kids everywhere, I wanted something quick and easy for dinner. The humidity yesterday was brutal too. The thermostat inside the house read 76 degrees at 5:30pm. So really I didn't want to even think about turning on the oven.

Cooking Light to the rescue! I was leafing through the June issue and saw Grilled Chicken Thighs with Roasted Grape Tomatoes. The recipe is beyond easy. All it involves is marinating the chicken in a lemony marinade and grilling it. I altered it a little too because there was no way I was cranking the oven up to 425 degrees F. My little house would have retained the heat and I just can't sleep when it's 80 in the house. The Brain hasn't pulled out the window air conditioning unit yet, and I'm trying to delay that. So I wrapped those little tomatoes up in tinfoil and had the Brain grill them with the thighs. Probably we could have grilled them longer, but I really liked how they turned out. They were hot, but still were fairly firm. Be careful though. They're slippery. I had several of them go sailing across the room. The Brain says he's never seen anyone have a meltdown over flying tomatoes before. (It was kind of a long day. I don't normally go into histrionics that easily.)

Grilled Chicken Thighs and Grape Tomatoes
adapted from Cooking Light

Chicken:
1 Tbsp grated lemon rind
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves crushed
8 skinless boneless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Tomatoes:
2 cups grape tomatoes
2 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp capers
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Prepare grill.
To prepare the marinade, combine lemon rind, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic in a large zip top bag. Add the chicken, seal the bag and move the chicken around (squish the bag) so that the marinade coats all of the chicken. Marinate for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

Place 2 large pieces of aluminum foil on a workspace. Place the tomatoes in the center of the foil. Drizzle them with the olive oil and toss to coat evenly. Wrap the foil up so it make a sealed pouch.

Remove chicken from bag and throw away remaining marinade. Salt and pepper the chicken and grill until done. While the chicken is grilling grill the foil pack of tomatoes. They should get very tender.

Combine tomatoes, parsley, capers, salt and pepper stirring gently. Serve with chicken.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh mercy, Cooking Light scores again. Yummers.

glamah16 said...

All it takes is a flying tomatoe to set anybody off.
I can barely add 1+1, much less retackle geomentry. Yikes!
BTW , Im cooking some thighs as I type this.

Sara said...

No crying over spilled tomatoes ;)

This looks super yummy... enough to make me wonder if I shouldn't have let my Cooking Light subscription lapse.

Lemme know when you get to calculus. I actually remember most of that.

Deborah said...

I haven't even had time to open my June issue yet...but if there are more like this recipe, I can tell it will be a good one!!

I hate math, but I especially hate geometry, so I am really feeling for you right now!!

Honeyed Hashette said...

I have been addicted to these grape tomatoes lately. Popping them like candy, sauteeing them in olive oil and garlic, roasting them in parchment over fish.
The kind I get are called "cherubs" and they are like little tomatoes from heaven.
Sigh.
I need to get more.

Sarah said...

I just made this recipe the other day, although I didn't make the tomatoes. My husband really like the chicken though.

Amanda said...

Yummy! That looks delicious! Love the grill adaptation.

My husband REFUSES to eat anything but chicken breasts... but I heat the other parts! This sounds like a great recipe for mixed chicken parts on the grill, and maybe even big tomatoes halved and grilled. Mmmm...