My Magnificent Magical Marinade

If you have been keeping up with the blog, you will be aware that recently I made a fantastic grilled flank steak to go in a fajitas dish. If not, catch up over here and then come back to this post.

Everyone together? Good!

The marinade that made that steak so good was still on my mind as I prepared for a dinner of grilled chicken salad. My mental gears were working as to how I could use the general principle of that marinade and change some of the flavors to make it unique. I am not sure why, but my mind immediately drifted towards asian-inspired ingredients. Soy sauce instead of Worcestershire; ground ginger instead of chili powder, use some sesame oil instead of all canola oil; things were coming together. I let the chicken thighs marinate for a few hours, and then put them on a hot grill for about 4 minutes per side or so until they were cooked through. Magnificent. Make sure to always let your meat rest for at least 5 minutes - you definitely need more time if you have larger cuts of meat or a whole animal. I let my thanksgiving turkey rest for a whole 30 minutes! The resting lets the juices redistribute inside the meat, and you will wind up with a juicier meal.

Finished grilled chicken resting on a cutting board.

The salad was built with iceberg lettuce and red leaf lettuce; thin cut red peppers, cucumber and carrots; some of my homemade pickled radishes; chopped ripe pear; a thin layer of crushed raw ramen noodles, the grilled chicken (cut into strips); and a topping of some freshly toasted sesame seeds.

Completed asian grilled chicken salad

Not only was the meat perfectly tender and tasty, but it was the perfect compliment to the salad. The lettuce and raw veggies provided a fantastic base for the salad, the meat was juicy and the pear provided a perfect sweet "pop" to the dish. The pickled radishes went especially nicely with the meat, and every now and then you got a nice crunch from the raw ramen noodles.

The perfect bite - a bit of everything!

After gushing about the marinade, I cannot keep it to myself, so here you go:

• 1 1/2 Tbsp Canola Oil
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 Garlic Clove (minced)
• 1 Tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Black Pepper

You may notice I omitted the salt from the marinade, but since I was using the soy sauce - which is itself very salty - I felt the mixture would be seasoned enough without any additional salt. You could pair this chicken with a nice stir fry over rice, or even put it on a sandwich. I would think it would be super tasty on a nice roll with some leaf lettuce, some non-creamy coleslaw and a slice of fresh tomato. Let me know in the comments below how you used this recipe!