Grilled Chicken and Vegetables

I decided to kick the recipes here at Mancipes off with a really simple and really tasty one. Our family absolutely loves grilled chicken and vegetables and it requires very little time and effort with respect to preparation and cleanup (always a plus with little ones that are anxiously awaiting desert popsicles, right?).

The basics of how to cook the chicken on the grill came from a Grilling University class Adrin and I took. The funny part is that it totally changed how I view cooking chicken and the conversation was really just a side note as the instructor was cooking a big ol’ hunk of beef as the main course! So thanks to those who ask seemingly unrelated questions – at least as long as they don’t ask too many of them.

What You Need:

Olive Oil
Coarse Salt (I prefer Kosher because having your ingredients blessed can’t hurt)
Dill
Some kind of Pepper (I would use Cayenne if anyone in my family was into the spicy stuff but I usually stick to plain old ground Black Pepper)
Basil
Chicken (boneless, skinless breasts work best for this)
Whatever vegetables you enjoy the most cut into big, fairly thick slices so that they won’t fall through the grill

* Dill and basil are pretty readily available in any grocery store but you should try planting some yourself if you’ve got a little space. We have a small herb garden and basil and dill are our “power herbs” because they are basically weeds so they spring up on their own every year and require zero maintenance. Plus, they are way cheap to plant and not so cheap to buy always.

Chicken:

1. Chop up the basil and dill until its fairly small – big chunks of basil especially don’t taste very good.
2. Throw the chopped herbs into some Olive Oil and add coarse salt and ground pepper – mix it all up as good as you can.
3. Coat chicken with the mix with a basting brush- make sure the chicken doesn’t drip Olive Oil or the grill will start flaming when it drips!
4. Throw on the grill (I usually go with medium heat on my propane grill) and as soon as the chicken no longer sticks to the grate, flip it over and cook about two or three more minutes TOPS (maybe five to eight minutes total?)
5. The chicken should still be slightly pink on the inside still- not super pink but you should be able to see a faint whisper of it. Don’t let it scare you, I’m told that it should be that way as that is when it’s at its most flavorful and when you taste it you’ll be hard pressed to disagree.

Vegetables:

1. Cut whatever vegetables you like into “big, fairly thick slices” – we always use green onions (no slicing needed!) and zucchini, often adding green or red pepper and broccoli or asparagus (both of which are THE BEST when grilled).

*Occasionally I’ll throw in some mushrooms as well, generally using the grocery store’s “Exotic Blend” pre-mixed stuff. I sauté it separately and then add it in at the end. I really like the mushrooms but it’s a little more work as you have to cook them separately.

2. Coat both sides of the vegetables with Olive Oil and apply a generous amount of Kosher Salt to both sides as well.
3. Grill it! Just throw it on and when it starts to soften a bit, flip it over and let it go another minute.

To wrap everything up I usually just slice up the grilled vegetables and throw a chicken breast on top of each plate. This is sooooo easy and something we enjoy doing all summer long when the vegetables are all basically in season here in the Eastern U.S. The trick really is to make sure you don’t overcook the chicken.

If you try it or have a variation or thoughts or even a question that you’d be willing to share, be sure to post it here so we can all check it out!