Grilled Chicken Zinger with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Grilled Chicken Zinger with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

This recipe just might elbow my smoked paprika chicken out from my preferred way to cook chicken for meal prep. It’s easy and incredibly tasty. The recipe for the chicken is adapted from this marinade chicken recipe, and requires the marinade and chicken prep the day prior to grilling. I paired it with a pretty standard roasted brussels sprouts with garlic, along with a side of strawberries and mixed nuts, as usual.

Shopping List

• 4+ lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 3x 10oz bags of broccoli flowerets
• (optional) Extra Fancy Mixed Nuts (Costco/Kirkland brand or Trader Joe’s)
• (optional) 2x 16oz containers of strawberries

Other items you will need (if you don't have these at home already):

• Balsamic vinegar
• Two lemons
• Dijon mustard
• Brown sugar
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil
• Worcestershire sauce (fish sauce works as a substitute
• Garlic (4 cloves, minced)
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Rosemary

Preparation

Chicken - 1-2 hours

1. In a bowl, mix together the following ingredients:

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (or fish sauce)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper, to taste

2. Cut chicken breasts in half, to make it easier/faster to grill and to have more surface area for the marinade to soak into.
3. Combine chicken and marinade in gallon size bag, let sit in refrigerator overnight. Turn occasionally.
4. Grill! Pull the chicken out of the marinade bag and go to town. Feel free to drizzle the remaining marinade on the chicken, just make sure to do it soon enough in the grilling process that any raw chicken juice is cooked.
5. Once done, cut up into strips and divide into 8oz portions per meal.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts - 30-45 minutes

1. Drizzle a bit of olive oil in two 9x13 metal pans.
2. Prep the brussels sprouts by cutting them in half, if needed, to make them easier to eat and roast faster. Divide equally between pans.
3. Divide garlic between pans, 2 cloves per pan.
4. Salt to taste, and toss.
5. Roast over low(ish) heat on grill or in oven--somewhere around 375 degrees. Stir every 10 minutes to make sure the brussels sprouts are roasted evenly--remove when done. This typically takes 25-30 minutes...I like it when it’s a bit soft and some have been charred nicely.

Once done, divide between your 6 meals (typically I shoot for 4-5oz).

Fancy Mixed Nuts - 10 minutes

In 6 plastic snack baggies, measure out 28g of mixed nuts per bag. Store in cupboard.

Strawberries - 20 minutes

Rinse strawberries and cut off tops. In 6 plastic snack baggies, measure out 4oz of strawberries per bag and add a paper towel per bag to soak up moisture to help keep the berries fresh.

Putting it all together

While the meat is cooking, prep the brussels sprouts and get them roasting in the oven, or put them aside to roast on the grill later. Then, prep and measure your strawberries and mixed nuts.
Once the meat and brussels sprouts are done, cut up the meat, and weigh out your servings in your snazzy meal prep containers. I shoot for 8oz meat, 4oz+ of broccoli per lunch. You should get something like the picture below. Toss all this in the fridge, and in the morning each day just grab your container, strawberries, and nuts, toss in a lunchbox with some ice and go!