grilled dinner
July 15, 2014 § 75 Comments
Light the charcoal, and in the time it takes for the coals to be glowing hot you have a “one grill” dinner ready to cook. I always love “one pot” meals and here we have applied the same concept to the grill.
One big plate for the center of the table, a glass of vinho verde (or ice tea for the young one) and you are set for a balmy summer evening dinner.
This garlic-marinated chicken cutlet with grilled potatoes recipe is slightly adapted from Everyday Food – Great Food Fast. If you are unable to purchase pre-cut chicken cutlets you may slice your own. Place one hand flat on top of a chicken breast and, holding your knife parallel to the cutting board, slice it horizontally from the thick end to the thin end into 1/4-inch-thick cutlets. It’s OK if not every slice runs the length of the breast.
I n g r e d i e n t s
- 1-1/2 pounds baby red new potatoes, halved or quartered if large
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- coarse sea salt & fresh ground pepper
- 1-1/2 pounds chicken cutlets (about 6)
- 1 pound asparagus, trimmed
Light your briquets. Fold a four foot long sheet of aluminum foil in half to make a double-layer sheet. Place the potatoes on the double layer and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Form a packet, folding the foil over the potatoes and crimping the edges to seal. Place on the grill and cook, turning over once, until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat. Leave the potatoes wrapped in foil to keep warm.
While your potatoes are cooking make the marinade: In a large baking dish, whisk together 1 tablespoon of olive oil, minced garlic, vinegar, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the chicken; turn several times to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes while potatoes are cooking.
In a large bowl, toss the asparagus with a tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt & pepper. Working in batches if necessary, grill the asparagus, turning occasionally until lightly browned and tender, 4 to 8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears. Set aside.
Lift the chicken from the marinade and grill until browned and cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Remove from the grill. Cover the chicken with foil to keep warm.
Serve this grilled dinner family style on a big platter and let everyone help themselves.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
Delicious. I love grilling season, so easy to get dinner done!
Grilling season is the best! It’s so nice to do dishes without washing pots and pans. And there is nothing quite as nice as dinner cooked on the grill. :)
😊
A dinner after my own heart. Love what you did.
Thank you Jovina. I love grilling too, one of my favorite ways of cooking dinner.
I love it. Looks so good.
:) Thank you Dave…Just needed a nice dessert to go with it, that’s all.
Charcoal is the way to go. I actually have a BBQ this Saturday… meal planned… thanks
Isn’t it? I cannot believe the difference of mesquite coals and propane grilling. I used to want a gas grill soooo bad, not anymore. It’s definitely more work using charcoal but really I would rather not even grill if I had to use a gas grill. (sounds stuffy doesn’t it?) :)
Looks delicious, love family meal style dishes. We have a charcoal grill here in Oregon and in Phoenix we have the gas, the charcoal is much better in taste no question.
Hope you are putting your charcoal grill to good use while you are in Oregon Cheri! I didn’t even realize your other home is in Phoenix. No wonder you go to Oregon in the summer. I’m sure the temp and climate is so nice in Oregon… comparatively speaking. :)
That is simple summer dining at its finest!
True. I haven’t wanted to cook a thing this past week. Seems like a little heat really deflates my enthusiasm to put out a good meal. :) Plus, I’m not very hungry in the heat. Do I sound like I’m complaining a little? I am. I’m happiest when the temperature doesn’t rise above 65F! Lighting the grill and putting out a dinner like this certainly is the way to go these days.
yummy. This looks fantastic! XOXO – Bacon
H there and thank you for stopping in! :) Nice to hear from you Bacon.
Too good. I love this style of eating and I am a huge fan of putting dinner on the grill/in the coals. Minimal clean up, maximum flavour, a good reason to have a beer and maximum flavour again. Smiley face
Minimal clean up it the way to go! I don’t own a dishwasher and it’s torture sometimes to stand over the sink and wash a bunch of pots and pans…that’s why I love the grill. You are right about the beer, standing over the grill is a perfect time to have one… :)
Yes! :)
How delicious!
:) thank you…
I like the idea of grilling cutlets. Breasts usually get too dry for me but this looks like a great solution.
I agree. The cutlets cook so quickly and do not dry out. If your knife is nice and sharp it is so easy to slice them horizontally. They are so tender and flavorful this way. Hope you give it a try next time, you’ll be pleasantly pleased with the results. :)
My kind of meal! The grill is a magical beast, isn’t it? I don’t grill (haven’t learned how to use ours, yet), but I appreciate it when my husband fires it up. We’ll have to try the potatoes in foil on the grill next time he does. Love the big platter of food!
Thank you Ngan. :) Grilling is so delightful isn’ t it? It was so nice to be able to have potatoes without turning the stove or oven on. They really had a nice grilled flavor even though they were cooked in foil. Its silly it was such a simple dinner to put together.
This is such a classic meal, I love it. Simple straightforward and delicious. Love it!
Thank you Suzanne. I usually like to reply sooner, the day really got away from me. I have really turned into a lazy cook for the past two weeks! I feel like I’m only choosing to make dinners that are super quick, no effort and do not require any heat source to cook! That certainly narrows it down to very little doesn’t it! I might as well go on a juice fast…loved your orzo dish today!
What a lovely bbq, good wine, great food! Such lovely photos too. Ah summer!
Hey Amanda! Thank you…ah yes, summer. It has finally made an appearance here in the northwest. Hope you are enjoying your summer and finding the time to get out on your bike. We took a fabulous ride last Saturday! I think the Tour de France has inspired us. :)
Ohh yes! I’m so inspired by the tour and have gone for some nice rides. Yay summer! It must be so beautiful by you.
This ooks like a wonderful dinner, and I really like your presentation!
Thank you. One big platter and that’s it! It was a wonderful site. :)
Looks delicious Seana, and has me hankering after some warmth. Even the light in your photos looks summery, while the best I can manage here is a drab grey
I remember trying to get a good photograph in the winter! So many wonderful dinners and recipes I haven’t posted because of bad lighting. Well, honestly, I think I would prefer cooler weather (right now anyway while it’s hot). I prefer cold weather food too. My friends can’t believe I’m like this…
I think you and I have Goldilocks Syndrome. Spring and autumn are my favourite seasons, not too hot, not too cold….
Oh does this look fabulous. I want to come to your house for dinner! This is my kind of meal… Actually one that I could have all ready for Mike to cook on the grill so that it’s ready for when I get home from work!!
You are GENIUS, my friend!!
Love this.. <3.
I love that plate!
Thank you Prudy. :) How sweet to get Mike out there cooking for you. Hope he’s doing well. And this would be the perfect meal for him to have ready for you. It’s so easy to not only put together but also to grill. It’s hot off the grill ready in no time at all. Especially if you use thin sliced chicken breast (cutlets). Hope you are well too! xx
This looks like a wonderful summer dinner! Food cooked on the grill is so good!
Indeed. Almost too easy to even post instructions! Love the simplicity of a dinner like this when it’s hot outside…
yes please :-) Liking the “one-grill” concept very much. And those potatoes look crazy good!!!
I’m getting to the point where I need to upgrade to the next size grill just to hold all the vegetables I throw on there. It is not uncommon for us to skip meat and just have several grilled vegetables for dinner. Which is fine by me!
These are the types of meals we have been making for the past two weeks! We have no AC, the heat is in the mid-90s, so we have grilled pretty much every night except for when we microwave leftovers. This looks simple and delicious!
Seattle is really a non-AC town! It doesn’t get unbearably hot too often, but when it does…oh man! You just want to go sit in your car with the AC on to cool off a little! You are right, this is the perfect type of dinner for hot evenings, simple and delicious! I’m always relieved when there are leftovers and I can skip the whole prep and cooking event altogether! Yes, very lazy these days… :)
I love it, simple and very tasty Seana :)
Thanks Linda. :) Simplicity is best, isn’t it…
No vinho verde for the young ‘un?! None of my business! Anyway, loving the idea of grilling. Which, as you can imagine, we don’t do here often. At last it’s the weather for it. But alas, I’ve no access to outdoor space. Will just feast vicariously through your post! Have you tried grilling asparagus with Serrano ham? Bit too salty for me, but very nice.
Oh, and I love the Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’! Or at least that’s the one of two that I used to grow.
I have not grilled asparagus with serrano ham before. Only roasted in the oven. I imagine it would be salty but, I enjoy salty food. In small quantities, of course. :) I am delighted you are familiar with the Crocosmia Luciifer! I absolutely love that flower! I have one rather large cluster growing at the front of the house. I love how you even noticed it in the photograph! Always so great to hear from you Johnny. Glad you are having summer weather finally. We are heading back down in temps over the weekend, rain in the forecast too…
What an awesome shared dinner Seana. I love generous share plates and ‘one pot/grill’ meals like this. It’s minimal fuss for a big reward! Hope that you’re getting some beautiful weather over there lovely xx
Hi Laura. I have been reading about your travels in Paris, what a beautiful time you must be having. Thank you for stopping in, oh, and Matt certainly did a wonderful guest post for you!
Beautiful, nothing like grilling instead of heating up the oven in the summer time is there?
You are right, nothing like grilling in the summertime! Honestly, it was almost too hot to even grill the other day! I was roasting out there turning vegetables and sausages!
Such classic flavours for the perfect summer meal Seana! Would LOVE to sit down to this dinner! :) We’ve just had a few lovely family days away in Sydney, so I’m now enjoying catching up on lots of gorgeous posts with a cup of tea by my side.
Thank you Margot. Glad to hear you had a few family days in Sydney. It is so great to step away for a few days and be able to soak in some new sights. So nice to hear from you. :)
Big communal plate eating – so sociable and so good!
Communal dining is all the craze over her in Seattle. Restaurants feature long dining tables meant to be shared with people you don’t even know! How about your area? Same? I do enjoy it at home…
Well, here in deepest rural France that would never do. It’s still quite formal and although tapas and nibbles (aperos) may be shared, everything else is individually served. In London, the same. But at home this is exactly how we eat in both locations, and the informality and comfort from sharing out a big dish of something with friends and family is so pleasurable that I wish it would take off more widely! Maybe Seattle will start a craze…:-)
I was wondering what’s cooking and there you go :) I also like dishes when you can make a few things at the same time, I love new potatoes especially grilled or fried ones! Everything looks so yummy on these pictures:)
Hi there and thank you! :)
This is very topical for me as my new barbeque (a small weber – not yet used) keeps looking at me – wondering when I will finally get around to lighting up some briquets. I’m a bbq neophyte. But think I will start with this dinner – exactly as you’ve done it here. How long after lighting the briquets is the grill likely to be ready? And did you place the asparagus directly onto the grill – cross-wise I assume?
Hi Lindy! I have noticed when I use mesquite lump charcoal it only takes 15 minutes and it’s ready. The harder wood charcoal (little square kind) takes a little longer, maybe 25 minutes(?) Do you use a chimney to light your coals? It’s really convenient and easy and doesn’t require any type of lighter fluid. I love the little weber and used to cook on one for years when we lived in an apartment. I still use a weber, but ended up getting the next size up. And yes, I do place the asparagus directly onto the grill crosswise. It doesn’t take long and need constant attention in turning. I love grilled asparagus and sometimes make a lemon, garlic, parsley and olive oil sauce to drizzle on top after it is grilled. Here’s a post from last year you may like. https://cottagegrovehouse.com/2013/07/15/grilled-carrots-and-zucchini/
Hope you get your grill going this weekend. :)
Interesting. I just Googled “bbq chimney” and found one at Home Depot Canada. I don’t have one and am not sure whether to invest or not given that I’m likely to barbeque once or twice a summer! But I don’t like the idea of using lighter fluid – so must weight that up. I’ll also look inside the bag of unopened briquets to determine if they’re mesquite lump or the little square kind. Seems there is a learning curve here. ;)
Grilling won’t happen this weekend as the meals are already all planned (the chalkboard menu is full!). But perhaps next weekend and I’ll keep you posted. Thanks so much for all the info. SO helpful.
My pleasure. :) awww. that chalkboard!
Your grilled dinner looks fantastic.
Thank you! It’s wonderfully easy to put together and very delicious. :)
wow, i considered myself as a bbq person,
you won’t failed with grilled meats for dinner, as long as you marinade it goodly!!!
Hi Dedy, I agree with you about bbq. We really enjoy grilled meats, it’s the best way to prepare it. And a good marinade makes all the difference in the world!
Perfect summer meal in my books!
We agree…this is a perfect summer meal. Doesn’t get easier than this either, especially with the kitchen clean-up when it’s all said and done. :)
I’m in! I do like one-pot and grilled meal too! Unfortunately, now it’s too hot here for bbq.. Those potatoes look so mouthwatering!
Wow, it much be so hot! To even bbq?! I know what you mean though. It can bee too hot to stand over a blazing hot grill and really it’s hard to eat when it hot! I’m sure you just want to stick to cool salads…
Great looking dinner – I try to do the same thing and grill a meal with the meat/fish and a veggie, then I usually serve a green or fruit salad.
Sounds great! It’s so nice to just put your veggies on the grill right next to your protein. Less dishes to clean too! ;)
This looks awesome (and simple enough) Seana! I always cut chicken breasts into cutlets (a better size of meat for us)– I learned it from the butcher when we lived in Spain, who always sliced them up just as you described when I bought chicken!
Aren’t cutlets the way to go? That is the only way I ever cook chicken breast anymore. It cooks so much quicker and you don’t need to second guess if they are fully cooked. :)
And I eat less–smaller servings are just fine with me.