Greek Chicken Marinade

This is one of those recipes that my family raved about but somehow it got lost in the bowels of my brain.  It was being tossed around in my cranium along with my ability to do long division and knowing the location of my car keys and cell phone.  It was that lost.  But luckily I somehow remembered where I had found this recipe and voila!  I'm here to share it with you!

Admittedly, I can be a bit scatterbrained at the best of times.  But I have the lame excuse that it's been a few months since I made this recipe.  I made it this past August when I had one of my dear university friends Ang and Scott and their kids over for the day.  I wanted an easy meal that was tasty and fresh but didn't force me to be stuck in the kitchen prepping and cooking.  I wanted more time for chatting and swimmin'.  There is nothing better than catching up with old friends and feeling like you pick up where you left off even if it's been a year since you last saw each other.  That is my own personal bliss. 

I decided to serve Greek chicken, Greek pitas, Greek salad and my beloved tzatziki sauce.  Mmmm, tzatziki!  You tangy, creamy uber yummy sauce that I could pretty much eat with anything.  Well, this dish was a hit with adults as well as my oldest son (aka The Carnivore) who ate more of the chicken than I did.  Not only did it have a wonderful tangy taste but the chicken was tender.  Needless to say, that day there were no leftovers.  When I made this dish again about a month ago I knew what to expect and made more.  Lots more! 

But this time I did things a little differently.  I marinated the chicken pieces but instead of only letting them marinate for a few hours that day I cut up my chicken, tossed it in the marinade ... then froze them for a future hectic week night supper.  It's a win-win situation because you prep ahead of time and, as the chicken thaws in the fridge, it marinates a little bit more.  I do so love having freezer meals at the ready.

This time around I also made extra, knowing that Boy 1 would hoover the chicken and knowing that this chicken, even when cold, would make for wicked Greek wraps for Brad and Boy 1 making my morning 'what am I making for lunches?!?' chaos a little easier on me.

Needless to say, this recipe will become a staple in my grillin' repertoire.  Enjoy!  Opa!

1/3 cup olive or grapeseed oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mix all of the ingredients, minus the chicken breasts, in a small bowl.

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. 

Note: If possible, partially freeze the chicken by placing it in the freezer for about an hour.  Partially frozen chicken is much easier to cut.

Place chicken pieces into a large Ziploc bag.  Pour marinade over chicken and massage chicken to ensure that all of the pieces are coated.  Plus, who doesn't enjoy a nice massage?  Place the bag of marinated chicken into the fridge for 4-6 hours (or overnight). 

One More Note:  You can also freeze this chicken (soaking in the marinade) for a future meal.  As the chicken pieces thaw they will marinate in the delicious flavours and make for an easy meal.

When chicken has marinated, place the pieces on several large metal skewers.  We bought ours at a local appliance store and love how they are angled.  This angle helps keep the chicken on the skewer and the metal helps to bring the heat right into the chicken.  

Grill the chicken on a lightly greased BBQ over medium-high heat, turning the chicken skewers occasionally, until the chicken is no longer pink and reaches an internal temperature of 165F. 

Serve with Greek pitas, tzatziki and a fresh Greek salad.

Recipe Inspired From: The Black Peppercorn

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