Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Grilled Rosemary Chicken with Lemon Almond Bulgur

Well, the cooking around these parts has been a little sparse. I'm working on a grant deadline, which basically means that I'm doing things like cooking mass quantities of chicken and bulgur and then proceeding to eat it for every meal. Fortunately for you, this was some freaking delicious chicken.

Chicken:
-1 ziplock baggie (I swear, this makes a difference)
-juice of 1 lemon (REAL lemon juice, people)
-a few sprigs fresh rosemary (I suppose dry would do, but fresh is exponentially better)
-boneless skinless chicken breasts (despite living alone, I used 4, because of the aforementioned plan to live on it)
-salt, pepper
-garlic (a few cloves, or if you're lazy like me and use the stuff in a jar, a teaspoon)

Bulgur
-1.5 cups dry bulgar
-2.5 cups water
-diced onion (2-3 tablespoons)
-garlic (a few cloves, or 2 tsp)
-red pepper flakes to taste
-chopped toasted almonds (I toasted mine in a dry skillet)
-just enough olive oil to saute the onions
-lemon zest (from the lemon you used for the chicken)- 2 tablespoons
-a squeeze of lemon juice if you have more

Basically, the chicken is the easiest thing ever- I dumped everything in the list in the ziplock baggie, pushed the air out of the bag, and stuck it in the fridge for 3-4 hours. The reason I swear by the baggie is that I think that it keeps the marinade closer to the meat. Also, periodically I go and squish around the meet to rearrange it. When I was ready, I popped it on the grill, and voila! I also tossed some zucchini and onions on the grill as long as it was on, as you can see- really, these could be any veggies you like.

The bulgur is also easy, I love bulgur because it tastes good and has a cous-cous like feel, but is more nutritious. Plus, it cooks incredibly quickly which is always a plus. Basically, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until a little brown, then pour in the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off heat and dump in the bulgur. After 5 minutes, stir in zest and almonds, and make sure that there is still a bit of water to absorb. Let sit 5-10 more minutes, then fluff and serve.

This was simple, and delicious (and, healthy). Of course now I've had about 6 meals out of it in different permutations (it was a lot of chicken) so I'm a little sick of it, but still, it was good! Very light and summery, and I really enjoyed the texture of the almonds in the bulgur and the freshness that the lemon brought.

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