Coconut Yogurt Marinated Chicken

I have always loved this recipe. It was a staple in our house until we eliminated all things dairy. With great hesitation, I tried it with plain coconut yogurt in place of full fat plain yogurt. To my surprise, I could not tell the difference between the two which inspired a spontaneous dance of victory all around the kitchen.

If you have five minutes in the morning make up this quick marinade and throw some chicken breasts into it. When you get home, all you have to do it cook them up and you have a quick and tasty dinner. If you don't have five minutes, wake up five minutes earlier. This chicken is worth it!

what you'll need:

chicken breasts

1container of plain coconut yogurt (6oz) We use "So Delicious" brand

3 cloves of minced garlic

2T lemon juice (or half a lemon)

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

3/4tsp ground ginger

1/2tsp ground cumin

1T olive oil

what you do:

Combine the yogurt with all of the ingredients except the chicken breasts in a big ziplock. Close it tight and squish the ingredients all around to mix them.

There are a couple of options when adding the chicken. You can add it in whole breasts or butterfly it and pound it flat then add it. I personally like to butterfly it. It gives it more surface area to soak up the marinade.

Add your chicken to the bag and squish it all around again to cover the chicken up with marinade. If you have teenagers put the chicken in an additional ziplock before putting it in the fridge. They will undoubtedly forcefully move the chicken aside while foraging for a meal just before they tell you there is "nothing to eat in this house" causing the bag to explode and spew yogurt all over the contents of your fridge. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience...

Give the chicken at least eight hours to marinade. More time if you've got it. When you are ready to cook it you can do a couple of things. Number 1: If you've kept the chicken breasts whole, give them to your husband/boyfriend/father, or some hot looking guy and command him to BBQ the chicken for you. Guys, if you're reading this... you're on your own. Number 2: If you've butterflied it you can cook it on the stove in a grill pan with a little olive oil. Watch the flame though, the yogurt can burn easily. Number 3: Bake it in the oven. Since I've never done that make sure you let me know how it goes.

Enjoy!