Blood Orange-Citrus Marinated Grilled Chicken

Sweet blood orange, herby rosemary and other ingredients combine in a divine chicken marinade.

So, since the blood orange season is pretty much over and my attempts at making a blood orange vinaigrette will surely take several more attempts, I decided to set that aside for now and use my last blood orange for a special marinade for grilled chicken.

See, Kalyn over at Kalyn’s Kitchen has been grilling up a storm over the past week or so and her beautiful grilled chicken breasts really got me salivating. Plus, she offered a great tip earlier this week to cut slits in the top of a chicken breast to help the marinade really seep in (thanks so much for that tip! It really worked well!).

It seemed like a match made in heaven: juicy grilled chicken breasts marinated in some sort of a blood orange marinade. Well, as things progressed, the blood orange marinade morphed into a citrus marinade.

Sweet blood orange, herby rosemary and other ingredients combine in this divine chicken marinade.

This yummy marinade also features one of my favorite herbs: rosemary, which I recently wrote about a great foccacia recipe using it. It comes from the Mediterranean region and is known for its memory improving qualities.

Blood Orange-Citrus Marinated Grilled Chicken

Yield: Marinade for 1-2 lbs chicekn

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

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Ingredients

• Juice of one pink grapefruit
• Juice of one blood orange
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 lb chicken breasts

Instructions

1. Whisk together the grapefruit juice, blood orange juice, orange juice, olive oil, lime juice, rosemary, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Cut 4 1/2-inch deep slits in the top of the chicken breasts. Add the chicken to the bowl with the marinade. Cover and let sit (in the refrigerator) for at least 2 hours, but preferably 6-8 hours.

To cook:

1. Heat your gas grill on medium or prepare charcoals for grilling.
2. Place the chicken breasts on the grill and cook, turning once or twice, until cooked through -- about 15-20 minutes.
3. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

NOTE: This recipe also appears on Betty Crocker’s website, which I worked with as a recipe developer for a number of years.