Here is a recipe I rely on to inch into the year.

In Phoenix, I’m lucky that lemon and thyme grow for the plucking in my garden. I’m tempted to keep chickens for the eggs. I loved caring for ours when I was a kid. But on reflection, it’s chickens or writing, and I’d better keep to my desk.

Lemon and Thyme Gremolata Chicken

Serves two and may be doubled or tripled.

Ingredients

Marinade
Juice of one small lemon, about 2½ tbs.
1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 whole boneless skinless chicken breast, halved and pounded between two sheets of waxed
paper till flattened to ¼ inch thick

Gremolata
1 tbs. fresh thyme leaves
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp or more freshly grated lemon zest. I used the zest of a whole lemon.

Procedure
Whisk together marinade ingredients and place together with the chicken in a resealable plastic
bag and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Mix the gremolata ingredients together and set aside.
Prepare grill or grill pan. Grill chicken on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches above the glowing coals
till cooked through on each side, about two minutes on each side, or cook in a grill pan with a little
marinade. Toss on the gremolata while cooking or at the table, and garnish with lemon slices and
thyme sprigs.