A Time to Grill

I’ve been waiting for a long time.  It seemed to be almost comical. First, the cold spring here in the Northwest seemed to stretch on interminably.  Then, it took me three tries to finally get propane for my grill. I was going to throw some chicken on last night, but it hadn’t thawed enough and we wanted a quicker dinner so we could get the kids to bed early.  (Shockingly, they were both down by 8!)

But tonight is Friday. It’s warm. The not-thawed-enough chicken from last night will be perfectly thawed tonight.  We have a long-lost (okay, not really lost, but she’s been in Russia for a year) friend coming for dinner. Tonight, we grill!

I love marinating the meats (and other things…but that will be another post) that I grill.  I read somewhere that marinating is relatively simple. You need an acid to break down the meat, tenderizing it far more artfully than with a mallet, and an oil to protect the juices.  After that, it’s just a matter of flavor.  That’s the fun part, where I rummage through my cupboards trying to find components for a tasty science experime–…um…for a tasty dinner. 

So I grabbed some balsamic vinegar and peanut oil.  With the basics covered, I moved on.  Soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic powder and minced onion.  My eye lingered on the Lipton Onion Soup Mix.  Hmmm…maybe it can be used for something other than meat loaf.  With a tear of the envelope, the mix became part of my marinade.  So what else could I put in?  What about…that?  I’d bought a several cans of diced green chiles, mild because I’m something of a wus in the area of spiciness, a few weeks ago to try them out in a new chili recipe.  They were still unused, until now.  A few twists of the can opener, and chiles were in the mix. 

I pulled down my trusty, twenty-five year-old Tupperware marinating dish and placed the chicken breasts inside, piercing each one twice with a fork. Then I poured the marinade over the top, sealed the dish and agitated it  to allow the marinade to coat the chicken before placing it the refrigerator. This morning, I flipped it over and it sits there now, waiting for the flames.

I have no idea how this will turn out.  But I do know this. 

Tonight, I grill!