Grilled Chicken Thighs With Zucchini Salad
Summertime means farm-fresh produce, citrus, and lots of great food on the grill. And what could be better to cook outdoors than chicken thighs? They are very forgiving when it comes to over cooking, a boon to inexperienced grillers.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1½ teaspoons grated lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons juice
- ½ teaspoon water
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 8 5- to 7-ounce bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
- ½ teaspoon table salt divided
- 4 zucchini 8 ounces each, ends trimmed
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- 4 ounces Parmesan cheese shaved
Instructions
- Combine mustard, garlic, lemon zest, water, and pepper in bowl. Place chicken, skin side up, on large plate. Sprinkle skin side with ¼ teaspoon salt and brush with one-third of mustard paste. Flip chicken and brush with remaining mustard paste; refrigerate while preparing grill.
- Using vegetable peeler, shave each zucchini lengthwise into ribbons. Peel off 3 ribbons from 1 side, then turn zucchini 90 degrees and peel off 3 more ribbons. Continue to turn and peel ribbons until you reach seeds. Discard cores. Refrigerate zucchini ribbons until needed. 3A. For a charcoal grill Open bottom vent halfway. Light large chimney starter mounded with charcoal briquettes (7 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes. 3B. For a gas grill Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s). (Adjust primary burner [or, if using 3-burner grill, primary burner and second burner] as needed to maintain grill temperature around 350 degrees.)
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Place chicken skin side down on cooler side of grill. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Rotate chicken, keeping skin side down, so that pieces that were closest to edge are now closer to heat source and vice versa. Cover and continue to cook until chicken registers 185 to 190 degrees, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Move all chicken, keeping skin side down, to hotter side of grill and cook until skin is well charred, about 5 minutes. Flip chicken and continue to cook until flesh side is lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to platter and let rest while preparing salad.
- Whisk oil, mint, lemon juice, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt in large bowl. Add zucchini and Parmesan and gently toss to combine. Serve immediately with chicken.