I usually don't have a problem with cooking. If I have the time (summer vacation, for instance) it can be a nice thing to concentrate on the act of making food. I do, however, have a problem with choosing what to make. I despise coming up with a menu and I often feel like kicking my husband when he responds with, "I don't know" when I ask him what he wants for dinner.
So I particularly appreciate recipes that are simple and don't require too much thinking or planning. No surprise, I found this recipe for Lemon Chicken on Pinterest. I recommend this recipe if you have a lemon tree and grow herbs (rosemary and thyme). The only thing I had to buy for this meal was the chicken and wild rice pilaf, both of which were on sale this week. Total? $5.
Marinating the chicken requires two extra hours. The first time I thought to make this dish, I hadn't read the recipe carefully enough and I didn't have enough time to marinate it. I work half-day on Wednesdays so I made it today instead.
I used an extra pound of chicken so I tried to adjust the marinade recipe accordingly, but I probably could've made a bit more. The one other thing I didn't follow in the recipe -- and I'm not sure if it made a difference -- was that instead of using a ziploc bag to marinate the chicken, I did it in a big bowl and put plastic wrap right over the chicken so it was kinda sealed. I mixed the chicken around an hour into marinating.
The chicken came out pretty flavorful, the skin was especially crispy and lemony. The smashed garlic was yummy too. I'll probably use this recipe again when I have an abundance of lemons and I'm getting tired of my usual roast chicken.
[Side note: After zesting and juicing the lemons, put them in a (microwaveable) bowl with water and microwave it for at least 6 minutes. The lemony steam will make the inside of your microwave smell nice and it'll be easy to wipe off any grime. Then, you can either compost whatever's left of the lemons or put them down the garbage disposal; it'll make the compost bin or the garbage disposal smell a bit better.]
