Please welcome guest blogger Claudine Jalajas:

I love cooking on the grill. The more that cooks out there, the less mess in the kitchen. I have a chicken marinade that works well for week nights or having friends over on the weekend for barbecues! I am not sure where the original recipe came from—I know that I have modified it several times over the years depending on what I have on hand.

Here’s what I like about this chicken marinade:

• It has red wine vinegar in it (sometimes balsamic). The vinegar acts as a “speed” agent with the marinate allowing you to quickly whip it up and get it cooking in about 20 minutes.
• I always make extra chickwn—it’s EXCELLENT as leftovers. Perfect for sandwiches or salads.
• My super duper picky eater son actually likes this chicken.
• My other son, 7 years old, tells me I should sell the marinade. 😉

The recipe:

I don’t use measurements–I just kind of throw it in the bowl and review the color.  But I’m going to give you a general idea of measurements.

• Extra virgin olive oil (depending on how much chicken.. about a cup)
• Montreal chicken spices (3-4tbspns),
• Garlic (always use lots—I use at least 3 cloves)
• Red pepper (dash of this only.. it’s pretty spicy/hot)
• Red wine vinegar (sometimes I use balsamic for a different flavor) about a 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup
• Soy sauce (few tablespoons)
• Worcestershire sauce (few tablespoons)

Mix together and add chicken and let it sit in a bowl for about 20 minutes.

It’s the vinegar that makes it work fast on the chicken. If you want it to sit longer (if you make it in the morning) omit the vinegar until right before you cook it, otherwise it will ruin the chicken. You can use the same marinade with beef and even potato slices that you plan to grill, too!

If you make extra, you can then use the leftover chicken in a salad the next day or it makes amazing sandwiches with pesto sauce and fresh mozzarella.

Claudine M Jalajas lives on Long Island with her husband and three young children. Visit her blog.