You know those cool little parts of your life that you wind up loving so much and you never see them coming? That’s my natural gas grill.
When we bought our house last June, I thought to myself “oh, cool! a grill.” and that was about it. Until the first time I got to stand only own deck with a cold beer and cook meat over a fire. There is absolutely a reason why TV dads like doing that so much.
I have seriously come to love spending that time outdoors making something ultra tasty. And these chicken thighs are ULTRA tasty. See for yourself!
You will need:
4-6 Mandarin oranges– not from a can, though. The sweet little ones from the produce section that you can eat three at a time… so I’ve heard.
2 cups soy sauce
A healthy dash of cinnamon
3 cloves of garlic; sliced or grated
2 tbsp ginger paste or fresh ginger, or 1 tbsp ground ginger
(Optional: 2 tbsp fruit preserves. I used fig. I have also tried using a fruity pepper jelly here and LOVED the results.)
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Combine the soy sauce, spices, and jam in a big bowl and squeeze sliced mandarin oranges in until the marinade is sweetened to your liking. Add in the chicken thighs and let them soak for at least an hour, but over night is best. Then put them on a hot grill, crack open a cold drink, and cook them until they’re done through! This is a sugary marinade, so it may cause your chicken to stick a little. I recommend using a non stick grilling spray if you’re worried.
Then they’ll look this good and taste even better!
Bonus Points:
I like to serve these on a really earthy salad of shaved Brussels, red cabbage, and carrots. The fatty, juicy chicken thighs are a perfect foil to those hearty, earthy vegetables and it all works together so well with the bright, sweet carrots.
To dress the salad, I use a vinaigrette made from equal parts olive oil and the juice of charred mandarin oranges and with ginger, and salt and pepper added to taste.
Now get outside and get grilling already!
xo,
K