Seaweed & Sassafras: White Wine & Soy Grilled Chicken {Guest Post}

Julia of The Roasted Root has officially kicked off grilling season! I don't know about you guys but I'm definitely ready. Julia and I crossed paths on the infamous Tasty Kitchen recipe website. She cooks up healthy, creative things like elk (I want to try that!) and this crazy good Beet and Sweet Potato Tart , and is also one of my go-to resources for Paleo style eating (which is becoming a huge trend). She's super sweet and fun, I know you'll love her! Be sure to stop by The Roasted Root. Thank you so much again Julia! This is the last of my guest bloggers :( but I'll be back in action this week!

No joke. The best marinade. And it’s not mine. Actually, the marinade came from my boyfriend’s father who is the master at everything meat-related. Everyone should know a master of meats in my opinion. They just make life so much…awesomer. Anyway, Garrett’s dad tends to do an equal parts ratio of olive oil to soy sauce to white wine. I cut back on the oil just a tad and added the slightest bit of seasoning.

The key to a good marinade is obviously the length of time you marinate the meat, but also the type of meat is important as well. I’m not a huge fan of boneless skinless chicken breasts because to me, they have no flavor. When making chicken, I stick to bone-in, skin-on pieces because the meat turns out firm but moist, and full of flavor. If that’s not your thing, no biggy; the marinade doesn’t discriminate so boneless, skinless chicken will work fine too. I marinated the chicken overnight, so I definitely think planning ahead is important, but if you’re pressed for time, 2 hours of marinating should do the trick.

You’re going to be so impressed by how easy this is and how great it tastes. I can’t wait for you to try it. It will make your sizzling grillin summer that much more delicious!

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (I used bone-in, skin on chicken thighs), raw and thawed

¼ cup grapeseed oil

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup white wine, nothing fancy (I used chardonnay)

2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning

1 teaspoon paprika

To Make:

In a blender, combine the grapeseed oil, soy sauce and white wine, Italian seasoning and paprika. Blend on high until your marinade looks creamy and well combined.

In a zip lock bag, place all chicken pieces and pour the marinade in. Massage it around so that all of the chicken is coated with marinade. Seal the bag and marinate overnight.

When you’re ready, fire up your grill. I use a propane grill and keep it on its highest setting. Allow your grill to heat up 3 to 5 minutes. Place the pieces of chicken a few inches apart on the grill. Allow the chicken to cook about 7 minutes before flipping it over and cooking on the other side for 5 minutes. Because the marinade has alcohol in it, you will get some flames around your chicken, so be careful to use grill-safe tongs when handling the chicken. By now, you should have a brown sizzling glaze on both sides of the chicken. Flip the chicken again and cook 3 minutes on the original side. Flip again and cook for another 3 minutes. At this point, your chicken should feel firm to the touch when you poke it and your glaze should be darker and beginning to char. Using tongs and a fork, carefully check the inside for any pink. As long as there is no pink, you’re done! If the inside is still a little raw, continue flipping the chicken, 1 – 2 minutes at a time.