Lemony Grilled Chicken Breasts

September 1, 2016January 18, 2019 ~ Judy's Chickens ~ 20 Comments

When I wake up in the morning a little panic-stricken thinking about what I’m going to prepare for a large crowd coming in for a holiday weekend, I approach the menu by considering my entrée options first. My go-to’s are grilled Premio Sweet Italian Sausage from Costco, Brooks’s Marinated Pork Tenderloin, and marinated chicken breasts.

Next, I consider my sides, which I prepare depending on what is in season. Often, though, I delegate the sides to guests. The beauty of this approach is you get to try other people’s specialties, and that is always a fun and tasty option. Desserts are my favorite food to cook, and for a large crowd, I like to make a hotel-sized pan of the ever crowd-pleasing Pumpkin Bread Pudding only made with seasonal fruit instead of pumpkin, and either Italian Sesame Seed Cookies.

or Ricotta and Lemon Cookies.

I was never a fan of grilled chicken breasts until I saw my friend from Tiverton, R.I., Sheila, a master at feeding huge crowds, carry Ziploc bags full of pounded-flat marinated chicken breasts out to the grill. By pounding the breasts flat Sheila could ensure the chicken would cook quickly and evenly throughout. I’ve been pounding chicken breasts ever since.

Ingredients:

Whole chicken breasts (for these photos, I made 24 breasts equalling 8 pounds)
@JudysChickens Everyday Salad Dressing
1-2 lemons, sliced thinly (depends on how much chicken you are preparing)
10 stems of thyme, rough chopped
a couple shakes of white balsamic vinegar, if you have it.

Instructions:

Rinse chicken breasts and trim fat.

Pat dry with paper towels.

Place each chicken breast in a thick bag and pound flat with the smooth side of a meat mallet.

Marinate pounded breasts in @JudysChickens Salad Dressing along with lots of sliced lemons and sprigs of thyme. You could add a little white balsamic vinegar and Grey Poupon for even more flavor if desired. Allow to marinate for a few hours to up to two days.

Grill for no longer than ten minutes.

Favorite Flavor-Enhancers: The Acids!

My mother always kept a bottle each of white and red balsamic vinegar in the fridge. She especially loved the white. Add a few shakes of white to the marinade for an extra burst of flavor.

Other Foods That Are Good To Serve At A Cookout
Sliced Beet Salad
String Bean Salad
Amazingly Delicious Sautéed Carrots
Marlin’s Black-Eyed Pea Salad
Grandma’s Italian Fried Cauliflower
“Croatian Cheese” a Flavorful and Exotic Appetizer Made with Feta and Goat Cheese
The Classic Pimiento Cheese Sandwich

LET’S STAY CONNECTED!

Don’t miss a recipe! Become a follower and have every post delivered to your Inbox.

Follow Judy’s Chickens on Instagram and Pinterest @JudysChickens.

Roasted Beet Salad

June 22, 2016January 17, 2019 ~ Judy's Chickens ~ 13 Comments

Last week, I returned home from a long vacation to a garden filled with produce and also lots of weeds. As I cleaned each bed, I made one pile of weeds and withered plants, destined for the compost, and another pile of spring root vegetables. After washing the veggies, I laid them out to dry. They begged for a photo.

All of these veggies were planted around March first. The “Scarlett Nantes” and “Calliope Blend” carrots and the “Hakurei” turnips were started from seed, the “Red Ace” and “Bull’s Blood” beets from seedlings, and the “Pontiac Red” and “Yukon Gold” potatoes, spring onions, and garlic from sets.

When you have such a sizable haul at one time, you need to divide and conquer in terms of prepping and cooking. I started with the beets because I love a beet salad and hadn’t prepared one yet this Spring.

Ingredients:
fresh beets
@judyschickens Everyday Salad Dressing

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400º

Wash and dry vegetables. Do not peel. Place on a sheet of parchment paper for easy clean up later. Cover with foil and roast for one hour, then turn oven off and let them stay in oven for 30 more minutes. If the beets are large, cut them in half before cooking.

When the beets are cool, peel with a paring knife.

Slice the beets and toss with vinaigrette. You may wish to add a little salt. You can serve as is at room temperature as a side dish, or serve them chilled. Either way, they are delicious and a cinch to make. I love the color tone and pattern shifts in the different varieties of beets.

Another way to eat them is in a cold salad. Here, I prepared a bed of arugula, and topped it with the marinated beets, crumbled goat cheese, and chopped walnuts, all of it tossed in a little more vinaigrette. Alternatively, you could use feta and sliced almonds.

If the beet greens are fresh and perky,

I cut them off the beet and sauté them in olive oil and minced fresh garlic for a few minutes.

Before serving, while they are still in the pan, add salt and pepper and squeeze a little lemon juice. Dinner is served!

LET’S STAY CONNECTED!

Follow my photos of vegetables growing, backyard chickens hanging out, and dinner preparations on Instagram at JudysChickens.

Never miss a post: sign up to become a follower of the Blog.

Blanched String Beans with Vinaigrette

June 17, 2016January 17, 2019 ~ Judy's Chickens ~ 18 Comments

We all have our go-to ways of preparing vegetables for dinner. While I may have a million ways of cooking veggies like zucchini, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower, when it comes to string beans and carrots I’m pretty set in my ways. For carrots, I love this recipe: Amazingly Delicious Sautéed Carrots.

For string beans, it’s the way I’m about to show you: blanched and tossed with a vinaigrette dressing. Floral decorations optional!

Ingredients

fresh string beans
@judyschickens Everyday Salad Dressing
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
edible flowers and sliced tomatoes (optional)

Mise en Place

Prepping String Beans:

If the string beans are fresh, you only need to pinch or clip off the stem end. If they are oldish, I clip both ends. I find it’s quick and easy to do this clipping with scissors.

How to Blanch a Pot of Beans (or most any vegetable, for that matter)

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the prepped veggies.

Keep the heat on high and bring the water back to a full boil. This takes about four or five minutes.

Once the water comes back to a rolling boil, cook for just one additional minute and then remove the pot from the heat and promptly strain the veggies through a colander.

Cover the colander with a plate and let steam for ten minutes, five minutes if you want crunchier veggies.

Add vinaigrette and toss. Allow to set for about an hour. Toss again before serving. Serve chilled or at room temperature. I prefer chilled.

Don’t stop there. Try decorating with edible flowers and cherry tomatoes for color. Here I used borage flowers and Sun Gold tomatoes from my garden. Add just before serving.

These beans are great to eat chilled the next day as leftovers.

This is a nice dish to use for feeding a crowd because you can make it ahead of time.

To make this a hot side dish:

You could skip the vinaigrette and add butter while the beans are still hot and serve as a hot side dish.

LET’S STAY CONNECTED!

Follow my photos of vegetables growing, backyard chickens hanging out, and dinner preparations on Instagram at JudysChickens.

Never miss a post: sign up to become a follower of the Blog.

My Kids’ Favorite Sautéed Carrots

February 18, 2016November 26, 2025 ~ Judy's Chickens ~ 33 Comments

Carrots are naturally sweet, have glorious color, and are tasty raw or cooked. What more could you ask for in a vegetable? More often than not, I use carrots as an aromatic to build layers of flavor into stews and soups, but if I’m going to serve them as a side dish, this is how I prepare them. While not necessary, adding the tablespoon of sugar or honey at the end will enhance the natural sweetness of the carrots. The red wine vinegar provides the acidic bite. Together, the sugar and vinegar, create a sweet and sour taste that makes these carrots addictive!

Ingredients:

3 pounds carrots (weight before prepping)
1 pound sweet onions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoon sugar or honey

Mise en Place:

Instructions:

Prep the vegetables:

Wash, peel and remove the root end from each carrot. Slice carrots about ¼-inch thick.

Wash, peel and remove the root end from each onion. Slice thinly. I do it all the slicing in a food processor.

Food processor blade care:

I’m terrified of sharp blades, especially this one from the food processor.

I once cut myself while handling it and still shudder whenever I think about that cut. It is the reason I am meticulous about how I store the blade. I always place the red “danger” label over it and store it in its own plastic bag.

Cook the vegetables:

Coat the bottom of a deep 12-inch sauté pan with olive oil and butter. Heat until hot but not smoking and add carrots and onions. Mix.

Sauté covered for 30 minutes, stirring every five minutes. When done cooking, add salt, vinegar, and a little sugar and mix well. Let rest for 15 minutes in the pan to allow flavors to meld. Stir and serve.

These carrots are good served hot, at room temperature, or cold.

Kids will love them. I promise.

Other Thanksgiving Day Side Dishes We Love
Roasted Butternut Squash, Brussels Sprouts and Cranberries
Melissa’s Sweet Potato Casserole
Auntie Martha’s Spicy Spinach (aka Spinach Madeleine)

Grandma’s Cranberry Chutney

LET’S STAY CONNECTED!

Follow my photos of vegetables growing, backyard chickens hanging out, and dinner preparations on Instagram at JudysChickens.

Never miss a post: sign up to become a follower of the Blog.

@judyschickens

Italian style meals, sustainable gardening tips, and lots of segues in between

Whole 30

Lemony Grilled Chicken Breasts

Roasted Beet Salad

Blanched String Beans with Vinaigrette

My Kids’ Favorite Sautéed Carrots

Share this post:

Share this post:

Share this post:

Share this post: