Great Marinade for Chicken

I have mentioned before in previous blogs that I love to marinate meats in the summer time. You can spend a couple of minutes in the Kitchen early in the morning, before it gets hot, to start the marinade. It makes for a juicy meat and the best part is you don't have the heat in the kitchen later on in the day because you take the meats outside to grill!

Typically my marinades tend to be oil-based. I was intrigued by a buttermilk-based marinade I found for chicken--Herbed Lemon-Buttermilk Dressing-- in a Cooking Light Cookbook called Grilling... I also found it online. Just looking at the list of ingredients gave me a hint that this might provide for a flavorful marinade. Take a look-

• 3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk
• 1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion 
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Combine it all and you are ready to go with your marinade (it can also be used as a dip for your meat). You can marinate your chicken for an hour, or as I prefer, combine everything and let it marinate for the day to be ready to cook in the evening. The grilled chicken was juicy and flavorful. Everyone loved it. A definite repeat.