Monday, April 22, 2013

Grilled Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa


Besides the fact that we've only had a few days of true spring weather around here, we've been grilling out frequently. Last night, after Joe brought in the food from the grill, Andrew told him, "Daddy, I want you to grill every day." I of course have no complaints about this, because any time I can pass the main portion of cooking a meal off on someone else, I'm happy. I was not so happy about the fact that Andrew told my mother-in-law that Daddy cooks all of our meals when he was asked (NOT TRUE). Oh, kids.

This chicken was one of the first things to grace our grill this year, and it was fabulous. I was skeptical about the fact that the chicken only stayed in the marinade for 3 minutes, but I was so surprised by how much flavor it got during that short amount of time. And the salsa is so simple, but so unbelievably good. I used some sweet little multi-colored cherry tomatoes, and I thought they made the salsa look so pretty. I think the salsa would be delicious on just about anything, but it really did pair perfectly with the chicken in both texture and flavor. This was such a simple, flavorful, and healthy meal, and even the boys gobbled it up. Win!

Grilled Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa
barely adapted from Cooking Light April 2009, also found on myrecipes

For the chicken:

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the avocado salsa:

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 avocado, pitted and chopped

1. To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.


2. To prepare salsa, combine tomato, onion, lime juice and salt in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.

3 comments:

amanda @ fake ginger said...

I'd be fine with my husband grilling every night too! Gotta love a night off! This looks fantastic!

Allison said...

Love the idea of a quick marinade, as I always forget to marinate my meat! We'll definitely be trying this--it's a good spinoff to the cayenne chicken that we have (and I don't have to de-spice it for the kids)!

Natalie said...

we are officially kicking off grilling season tomorrow and i can't wait!

this sounds fab!