Easy Lemon Garlic Marinade

I'm going to share with you my favorite homemade marinade recipe that my Dad taught me. That's right, Dad the grill-master. I have adapted it a bit, depending on what ingredients I have on hand. We made grilled chicken fajitas this week (which were amazing), but rather than spend extra money on store-bought pre-marinated chicken, I prepared my own the day before. It. Was. So. Good. 

You don't really need to measure everything exactly, so don't stress over measuring cups on this one. It goes something like this:

Ingredients:
Olive Oil, about 1/4 - 1/2 a cup or more (you can add more if it gets thick while whisking)
Juice from 1 Lemon, (bottled lemon juice works too, if you don't have fresh)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
Fresh Parsley (I keep some in the freezer)
Fresh ground pepper
Salt
White Wine (add a splash if you like, but you can omit if you prefer)
4 chicken breasts (pounded/tenderized)
OR beef of choice (it's great for steak too)


Directions:
Whisk everything (except meat) in a bowl to combine well. Pour marinade into a large zipper storage bag (or container with a lid). Add chicken or beef to bag and refrigerate at least a few hours or overnight. 

Go on and whisk it. You must whisk it. When a problem comes along...you must whisk it.

This is not a sightly image (Kristy, close your eyes), but here's what everything looks like in the bag. If you want to make more than 4 chicken breasts, you will need to double the marinade recipe and use two bags. I like to squish it around a bit to make sure all the lemon garlic-y goodness gets all over the chicken. Then into the fridge it goes.

When you're ready to grill, just remove the chicken from the bag and toss the used bag with discarded marinate into the trash. Talk about easy clean up!

I wish I had photos of the grilled chicken or the fajitas to show you, but we were too busy eating them to stop and get the camera. That's how good they were. 

Happy grilling!