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To me, summertime is all about slowing down, spending time outdoors, not heating up the kitchen and doing lots of grilling.  In fact, I find I’m grilling food almost daily outside. You can grill almost anything it seems.  But my favorite food to grill are chicken breasts.  Chicken is so easy to simply throw onto the grill.  The secret to a great flavor is all in the marinade.

This Limoncello Marinade recipe is perfect example of a really good marinade.  I love to use this marinade for chicken breasts and although I haven’t tried it yet, I’d be willing to bet money that it would be great on shrimp as well.

I start out by whisking together all the ingredients in a small bowl and simply pouring the marinade over the chicken breasts.  The longer the chicken breasts marinate, the tastier they will be and the limoncello has a tenderizing effect on the chicken.  Limoncello is sweet, so you’ll detect a slightly sweet yet tangy flavor in the chicken. The chicken breasts will be not only moist and tender but extremely tasty as well.  I made up a chimichurri sauce to serve on top which complimented the chicken perfectly and roasted ears of corn on the grill and paired this dinner with an excellent Pinot Noir from Monticello Vineyards.

I’m always on the lookout for a great tasting marinade, drop me a line and let me know if you have a favorite.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup limoncello

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon minced jalapeño pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl.  Pour over chicken and allow to marinade for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  The longer you allow the chicken to marinate, the juicier and more flavorful it will be.

Place on a grill set to medium high heat and grill until done, about 8 minutes a side.