Joel's Marinated Chicken

(This recipe was first posted in conjunction with Meijer Ad Week 3/11/12 - 3/17/12)

Introducing.......  The.  Best.  Chicken.  Ever!  I've been waiting for warmer weather to share this grilled chicken recipe...and did you see the forecast for next week?  Time to fire up the grills here in West Michigan!  My uncle and aunt served this grilled chicken at our couples' wedding shower years ago.  Now, we grill up this "pink chicken" all the time...and we've never once served it to company without being asked for the recipe. 

Ingredients:

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup French or Catalina dressing
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ginger

Directions:

Trim all visible fat from chicken breast halves.  Cut them in half again if very large.  (Smaller pieces grill up quicker...the outside won't get charred before the inside is done.)  Cut 2-3 very shallow slits into each side of each chicken piece.  Set chicken aside.  Mix remaining ingredients in a resealable plastic bag.  Add chicken to bag and put it in the fridge to marinate at least 4 hours.  Turn bag occasionally.  Preheat grill to medium-high.  Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade.  Grill chicken breast pieces 4-6 minutes on each side. 

Options and Tips

• The Meijer brand frozen chicken breast grills up wonderfully because it is generally thinner than fresh chicken breast.  If you are grilling fresh chicken breast, pound it flatter first.
• The original recipe called for equal parts soy sauce and French dressing, but we adjusted it according to our family's tastes.  Feel free to change it back if you prefer a stronger soy sauce taste.
• Sesame seeds can be expensive...so check Costco or your local dollar store instead of the spice aisle at Meijer.
• I purposely marinate and grill extra chicken pieces so that we have leftovers to slice up for sandwiches, wraps, and salads.  The cold leftovers are almost as good as the pieces fresh off the grill!
• A number of you have commented to me (in person or over email) that your chicken was not as pink as mine.  The picture above was taken after I had marinated the chicken using Kraft Classic Catalina dressing.  It seems to make the chicken more pink than any other brand or variety of French/Catalina dressing.  Using other brands will not really change the taste, but just make sure you are using REGULAR dressing, not "creamy".    

The original marinade recipe came from my Uncle Joel Bruinooge...and I've passed it along to many other people over the years!

This recipe is linked to Meals4Sharing over at Eat2Gather