Welcome Home! Grilled Chimichurri Chicken

Joshua and I had just finished moving in the last of our furniture and moving out of our beloved Cameo Apartment. It was very bitter sweet. We were so excited to be in our new home, but I shed a few tears as we said goodbye to our Wallingford home. It had been my first place out of college, the place we would share with Jackie (AKA Mosby), the place we had fallen in love, and countless other memories. I would miss Eggs Bennie at Varsity Inn after our nights out in Fremont, walking down to Gasworks Park for an impromtue picnic, being neighbors with Katy, the fourth of July fireworks from our deck, etc., etc., etc.

But as the week began in our new home, I wanted to celebrate my with my new husband. It was Monday and we hadn't managed a trip to the grocery store yet, so I wanted something fast and easy, but supremely delicious. Joshua's older sister Jessica and her husband Steve had shared a recipe they picked up while visiting some friends in Florida. This was the perfect meal for a late August evening and we even ate out on the patio to soak up the last days of summer.

Chimirchurri originated from Argentina and Uruguay, is a popular sauce used with grilled meat in many Latin American countries. It is told that the unusual name comes from 'Jimmy McCurry', an Irishman who is said to have first prepared the sauce. He was marching with the troops of General Jasson Ospina in the 19th century, sympathetic to the cause of Argentine independence. The sauce was popular and the recipe was passed on. However, 'Jimmy McCurry' was difficult for the native people to say. Some sources claim Jimmy's sauce's name was corrupted to 'chimichurri', while others say it was changed in his honor (Wikipedia).

This sauce is so delicious and can be used on just about anything. I first tried it on skirt steak, but have also heard of it used on burgers, french fries, shrimp kabobs and so on. For our first meal, I chose chicken with rice and red bell peppers.

You will need the following things:

• Food Processor


• Grill


• Rice Cooker


• Basting brush

Ingredients for Chimichurri Sauce

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, buds plucked from stems
6 cloves garlic
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 lemon wedges (juice of)
1 tablespoon diced red onion
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Other Ingredients

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced 1” thick
1 cup uncooked white rice

Directions

1. In a food processor, combine the parsley, vinegar, garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper.
2. Process until smooth; season with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and pour the olive oil over the mixture.
4. Let stand for at least 20 minutes to extract flavors into the oil.

*TIP – making the sauce the night before can make for a quick meal when you get home from work. The sauce will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container.

5. Separate the sauce into 3 even portions. One will be used for marinating, one for grilling and the other for table service.
6. Place chicken breasts in a large Ziploc plastic bag, poor one third of the sauce in with the chicken. Put the chicken in the refrigerator and let sit for 20-30 minutes.
7. Slice red, orange or yellow bell pepper into quarters (one pepper per person).
8. Begin to cook rice in rice cooker.
9. Preheat grill to medium high.
10. Cook chicken breasts on grill and cover for ten minutes on each side or until the meat is white all the way through. Continue basting the meat every 5 minutes throughout the grilling process.
11. Add pepper slices to the grill during the last 6 minutes of cooking the chicken. Baste both sides of the pepper with the grilling sauce and flip after 3 minutes on each side.
12. Remove meat and vegetables. Serve with white rice and a small dish of the chimichurri sauce.

*NOTE – Bad Breath Alert! This sauce may be one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had. Having said that, with the amount of garlic we used I do not recommend this dish for a romantic evening at home.