Chicken is boring.

Don’t kid yourself. It is. It’s really f-ing boring.

But it can be fun and sexy just like all the other meats -it just needs to dress better and make an effort, ya know?

When I’m feeling bummed out about Chicken’s girl-next-door ho-hum-ness, I invoke a good marinade. Marinades are simple, easy, and don’t actually require that much forethought. An hour in a good marinade can be plenty.

These are two of my favorite go-to chicken-soakers.

Teriyaki!

Teriyaki marinade is kind of a “no-duh”.  Sugar+Salt=YES.  You can mess with proportions and ingredients as much as you like – as long as you have the soy sauce and something sweet in there, it’s gonna be good:

• 1/4 cup sherry, dry cooking wine, or whatever is already open (really)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (reduced sodium if you love yourself)
• 1/4 cup cooking oil (or not, it’s up to you – I’ve found it’s not essential, but it leads to slightly jucier meats)
• 3-4 garlic gloves
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled or 1 tspn ground ginger
• 2 tbsp. mollases – or – 2 tbsp brown sugar – or – 2 tbsp agave syrup (or some combination, or white sugar – really you just need something sweet)

Throw this stuff into a food processor or a powerful blender (The Holy VitaMix gets this done FAST and thoroughly) and emulsify.

Marinade for 1 -1.5 hours (or overnight) and then cook to your heart’s content.

Citrus Ginger!

When I’m going for something less sweet and more bright, this is what I usually use.

• 1/2 c. orange juice
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 1.2 tspn dried sage or several leaves fresh
• 1.5 inch fresh ginger, peeled
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic
• Splash of Tabasco

Same deal. Combine in food pulverizing device of your choice and blend into yummy liquid/paste.  Marinade for 1-2 hours and get to it. (I’ve let this marinade sit overnight before and I found the citrus to be too strong. Just sayin’)

Now, go and put some spice back into your lackluster chicken life!

Coming soon: Yogurt based marinades – so delicious!!!