One of my favorite trips for eating I’ve ever been on was to France, particularly Provence. Everything just tasted better there. The market was full of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and sausages. They used herbs and oils pretty liberally and the flavor shined through. One of the souvenirs I brought back was a bag of herbes de Provence. Little did I realize you can get this at most grocery stores in America. This marinade uses the oils, vinegar, and herbs for a flavorful outcome. A hint of nutmeg in the marinade brings out the earthiness of the chicken(Rachael Ray taught me that one).
Mediterranean Chicken Marinade
Ingredients:
- 1lb boneless, skinless chicken
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons herbes de Provence(or any Italian herb blend)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, or 1 1/2 Tablespoon whole cloves
Mix together all of the ingredients except the chicken to make the marinade. Pour it into a Ziploc bag and add the chicken. Leave the chicken in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight to marinate.
Once ready, preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chicken in its sauce for 45 minutes or until done if you’re using a thick cut like the breast. Remove the bay leaf and any whole cloves of nutmeg before serving. Pour some of the excess sauce at the end on top for added flavor.
The olive oil and herbs make this taste fresh and flavorful straight from the oven. It’s excellent with some light vegetables with the extra liquid poured over them to join the flavors. This is one of my new favorite recipes to throw together in the morning and cook at night.
That looks AMAZING. I am envious of all the cooking you do! I also love how it’s just a matter of throwing ingredients into a bag. I need to take a break from baking and start cooking up one of your recipes 🙂
You’ve been to France?! I’m so jealous. This looks delicious, as does your dumplings post. I am so impressed with your recipes! I’m in a cooking slump and these are making me want to bust out of it.
Such a foodie, you’ve been to France! You should do a trip recap post, even if it was ages ago, it would still be fun to read about!
so good, i miss france ( i went last march) and the food was out of this world! love herbes de Provence, i often roast a whole chicken brined in it!
Chicken breast has a blunt taste, but marinated like this it is wonderful. I like what you did here.
When I was in France, I was so poor I ate exclusively from grocery stores 🙂 I would love to say that I ate at a real restaurant, but alas… maybe next time 🙂
oh I will definitely be using this recipe! I LOVE mediterranean food!
Throw together am and cook pm is such a good way to go! Interesting substitution between cloves and nutmeg: they’re so different! Both so good. Both little-goes-long-way. My husband’s finicky about herbs, and I wish he weren’t because being Mediterranean myself, I love to fix stuff like this (but don’t eat chicken!)
I have a confession. I mainly read food blogs for the funny stories and the pretty pictures. You have both.
However, I find myself wanting to make some of the things you post.
I don’t know who I am anymore.
You will cook one day, or my name isn’t Jezebel Stevens.
Looks like a great marinade! I love broccoli with chicken 🙂
This sounds really awesome, love the addition of cloves & nutmeg it would really sweeten the deal. Beautiful flavours, very French 🙂
I am no photography guru by any means, but those pictures are awesome!!! The chicken sounds (and looks) delicious…now I must clean the saliva off of my keyboard!
Thanks! That’s one thing I’ve been working on lately.
That chicken looks beautiful! Like it’s wearing a really expensive sweater.
…I realize that sounds incredibly weird.
Excellent! My family loved it. I only had white balsamic but it was fine. I think it would be great to make extra to put on top of a Greek salad or in pot pie.
This recipe was so delicious! I tried out 3 different mediterranean chicken recipes at the same time to determine which was the best. This one was the clear winner! This recipe was the most flavorful and it tasted even better the next day!
Wow! Can’t say I’ve ever won a taste test before 🙂 Glad you liked the recipe!
[…] hardest part was picking what to make. We ended up settling on Mediterranean chicken, a pretty basic salad, sautéed broccoli, and this potato recipe. I’d seen vanilla used with […]
Trying it out today! Chicken breast marinading for dinner.
I am going to try this tonight- I bought all of the ingredients yesterday – Thanks,
Very easy and tasty. Passed by the review committee (husband and son) with flying colours. Will definitely make again. Thanks, LinMarie.
I cook a LOT, and used to cook in the restaurant business, and this is hands down one of the best marinades for chicken I’ve ever tried. It’s quick, simple and delicious!!! If you haven’t tried it yet, you’re depriving your family and friends of a GREAT meal experience!