This is my first post for The Secret Recipe Club. I’m so excited to join this fantastic group of food bloggers. Each month we are assigned another food blog. We scour their site choosing a recipe to recreate, putting our own spin on it if we would like. This month I was assigned to Jason’s blog, Jason’s BBQ Adventures. Jason has some great recipes on his site (especially if you’re a meat lover like my husband and myself), but I ultimately decided on this Asian Grilled Chicken. We love to use the grill more and more as the weather gets warmer. Also, this recipe was super easy to prepare, and you all know how much I love my easy dinners!

I did make some minimal modifications to this recipe. I increased a lot of the ingredients in varying proportions because I had nearly three pounds of chicken instead of the 1 pound written in the recipe. We like to grill extra to enjoy the following day (piled on top of a salad in my case). I also added sesame oil and freshly grated ginger for more flavor variety. Someone commented on Jason’s blog that this chicken was slightly lacking in flavor. If I may get up on my soapbox for a moment, I would first like to give Jason credit for approving a rudely written comment. That takes guts and integrity. Secondly, if you have something not so nice to say about a recipe, fine. We all love feedback. Well, I shouldn’t speak for everyone, but I love feedback. If a recipe stinks, I for one would like to know about it. But you have two options in this scenario: 1) “Hey, I really liked the red pepper flakes in this recipe, but I’m searching for a little more flavor. Do you have any suggestions?” 2) Write the author a private message or email. C’mon people, it is only polite. Okay, stepping off of my soapbox now. I’ve never actually had anything like this happen to me personally. You people (my readers) kick butt. You’re seriously awesome.

I could definitely taste the addition of the sesame oil and the grated ginger, but if you’re not into those flavors, I think it would be great without them. The red pepper flakes, garlic, and soy sauce really came through as well. I also marinated mine for probably close to 16 hours because we ended up grilling these one day later than originally planned. They certainly weren’t lacking flavor after that amount of time marinating.

I garnished with parsley because it is what I had, but if I lived in a grocery store (how handy would that be?), I would have garnished these with sliced green onions or cilantro. I served it with jasmine rice topped with sliced almonds, and a side of Asian style slaw.

Asian Grilled Chicken
Adapted from Jason’s BBQ Adventures

Two 14 oz. cans of chicken broth
6 Tbsp light soy sauce (reduced sodium)
3 Tbsp white vinegar
3 tsp white sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
¾ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2.5-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast

1. Mix together all ingredients except chicken in a bowl.
2. Place chicken in zip top bag.
3. Pour marinade in bag and place in refrigerator for at least four hours (I put my bag in a pan or bowl just in case of leakage).
4. Grill over medium direct heat until juices run clear and chicken is cooked through.

Verdict: I liked these a lot. They had so much flavor. I really liked that all the ingredients are typically stocked in my pantry. I think this recipe will quickly become a go-to for us.
Husband’s take: He also liked this chicken a lot. He had nothing bad to say about it.
Changes I would make: None.
Difficulty: Easy. Especially if someone else does the grilling for you! Just another reason to love summer. Give a guy some raw meat, a big metal spatula and a cold beer, and he’s happy to cook.