Cilantro Lime Chicken

Mmm… this chicken was good! It was spicy so it’s unusual that I would like it but I ate twice my normal portion of chicken and had no room for a side! In case you haven’t noticed I love trying marinades but because this had lime juice I knew the chicken couldn’t be in this marinade longer than a couple hours. So I made the marinade in a ziploc the night before and added the chicken to the ziploc only 2 hours before cooking, but man-o-man was this flavorful! I think the marinade sitting overnight really caused the flavors to fuse. Besides fanatically trying new marinades lately I’ve also been fixated on flattening my chicken breasts and cooking them stovetop on high heat. I love the caramelized color it gives the chicken and it’s done and ready to serve in 10 minutes (which is a dream come true for a working mom)!

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of diced jalapeno (I use jarred jalapenos)
1 minced garlic clove

Directions
To make the marinade combine all ingredients except chicken in a ziploc bag or dish. Let the marinade rest in the fridge overnight. In-between pieces of plastic wrap place each chicken breast and gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick. Add chicken to marinade; turn to coat completely, refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook on high heat in a skillet for 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through (resist the urge to flip the chicken for 5 minutes though so you get a good caramelized color). While cooking I sprinkled each side with a little salt and pepper.