Ginger Chicken Marinade

Whenever I go grocery shopping, I say to myself, "ooh I can make (fill in the blank)" and with great intentions, I pick up whatever ingredient inspired me. Then I either get home and prep everything I bought so dinner is easy to make all week or I don't. More often than not, I don't. In the case of this past weekend though, after the kids being sick and a trip to Plymouth, MA for a wedding, I wanted to have easy dinner plans for the week. After checking out what was in the pantry, I pulled a package of chicken out of the freezer thinking that it would be a good dinner for two nights. I also had a lot of ginger in the refrigerator. I quickly Googled ginger chicken marinade and found one that had no sugar and all (i.e. most) the ingredients were in my pantry:
 
Ginger Lime Marinade for Chicken

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lime zest  

 

I didn't have lime zest so I added a dash more of the lime juice and marinaded the chicken for 2 days. I then baked it in a pan at 400 degrees (that was what I was already cooking my maple and butter filled acorn squash at) for about 25 minutes with all the marinade juice so it didn't dry out. I used thighs because 1. they are cheaper 2. they are moister.

 

Verdict: The chicken was moist and flavorful. For me the sauce was too salty. Normally I cut my soy sauce in half and add the other half water. I did not this time because whatever I made last time was too bland. So next time I will dilute my soy sauce but otherwise the flavor was strong and good. My husband said it tasted like bourbon chicken and wished I had rice to mix with the beans. (I cooked black beans  to go with it - dried beans soaked in water, then cooked for 2 hours in 1:1 water: coconut milk, 1 TBSP garlic, salt, pepper, dash of red pepper flakes, dash of cumin and a dash of oregano.) Very yummy.

 

As an easy note, here was my easy dinner plans:

Sunday - Chicken breasts cooked with carrots and mash potatoes and acorn squash

Monday - Mac and Cheese made with sour cream and tomatoes and pan fried broccoli

Tuesday - Soy Ginger Chicken with black beans, acorn squash and pan-fried broccoli

Wednesday - Chicken with homemade mushroom gravy and leftovers

Thursday - Hard-boiled egg sandwiches

Friday - Homemade pizza

 

Happy Wednesday!