Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken and Summer Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
- 1 ziplock bag
- 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 lemon + the zest
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
- 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- About 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 heaping teaspoon salt
- Ingredients for the salad:
- 2-3 cups fresh spinach
- 1 cup cooked quinoa or rice
- 1 large avocado
- 2 ears of grilled corn, and cut off the cob
- 1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the ziplock bag, squeeze out any air and seal. Then, use a meat mallet to pound the chicken so that it’s an even thickness throughout.
- Add in the zest of 1 lemon plus the juice of the lemon into the bag. Add in the garlic, herbs, mustard, honey, olive oil and salt.
- Press any air out of the bag and reseal it. Use your hands to mix everything together by smooshing it around in the bag.
- Allow the chicken to marinate for at least 20 minutes or up to a couple hours.
- Prep the grill as needed with oil (depending on your grill) and heat the grill to a medium/high heat. Place the chicken onto the grill and cook for a few minutes on each side until nicely grilled with a good char.
- Once the chicken in cooked through, place it on a plate for a few minutes so that the juices inside the chicken settle before cutting.
- If serving whole, squeeze some fresh lemon over the chicken and a sprinkle of sea salt and serve. If adding to the salad, cut the chicken into slices and squeeze the lemon and sea salt over the cut slices.
Assemble the salad:
- Place the spinach onto a platter and top with the quinoa.
- Layer the other ingredients over the spinach and top with the crumbled feta, a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of sea salt, a few twists of freshly cracked pepper, and a squeeze of some fresh lemon juice and serve!
Notes
Don’t skip the step of pounding the chicken. This helps it cook more evenly AND faster. Also, I don’t know that this is a fact or not, but I feel like it soaks in the flavors of the marinade better when it’s pounded out as well.
If you do not have a meat mallet, you can use a rolling pin or skillet to pound the chicken flat. I have done both in the past and they both work. If you are considering getting a meat mallet, I highly recommend it! I’m surprised at how often I use it for things that aren’t even meat like nuts, ice, etc.
Give the chicken at least 20 minutes to marinate. I’m sure you could do this overnight but I feel like it breaks the chicken down too much so I like to do it the same day. Even a couple hours is good.