Grilled Brined Chicken Breasts with Herbs Recipe

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Brining does add extra time to otherwise quick-cooking chicken breasts, but there's almost no extra work--and brining practically guarantees the meat will be moist and tender when you take it off the grill.

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Servings:

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, about 6 oz. each
1/4 cup salt, preferably without additives
1 tablespoon molasses OR 1/4 cup brown sugar (optional)
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon, oregano or other herb
salt and pepper

Container:grill

Directions

PREP

5 mins

COOK

10 mins

READY IN

2 hrs

To brine the chicken, put 1 quart water and 1/4 cup salt (with molasses or brown sugar, if using) in a bowl or zip-top bag. Stir to dissolve and add chicken pieces. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
When ready to cook, preheat grill to high. Make herb mixture: whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and chopped herbs. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry. Salt and pepper both sides.
Oil grill grates and brush chicken with herb mixture. Grill first side about 5 minutes. Brush top (ungrilled) side with herb mixture, turn the chicken and brush top (grilled) side with herb mixture. Cook until meat is opaque and no pink shows when you cut into the thickest part, another 4-6 minutes, depending on thickness. Brush both sides again and turn, about 30 seconds per side.
Serve immediately.