Grilled Teriyaki Sesame Chicken

The Occasion: Husband does the grilling around here, although he prefers to grill burgers rather than chicken. But I thought having him make this would be an easy way to get out of making a dinner this week. Ha.

The Recipe: From Betty Crocker's 2009 Annual Recipes cookbook.

How it Went: I was quite pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. I really wasn't sure how it would work, but it was very flavorful! I will make this again for sure. I guess it mostly had to do with how Husby grilled the chicken, but I like to think I contributed.

What You Need:
1 T sesame seeds
2 T teriyaki sauce or marinade
1 tsp ground ginger
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 lb angel hair pasta

Your Turn:
I was lucky for this meal because I had leftover angel hair, already cooked, from a meal earlier in the week. If you're not so lucky, boil about 1/2 a lb of angel hair pasta. Toss it with a bit of soft butter when it's cooked, to keep it from sticking.

For grilling chicken, I find it easiest to slice the breasts lengthwise, like a hamburger bun, to make them thinner. This allows them to cook more quickly and with greater chance of being done all the way through. It's actually very easy to cut chicken breasts in this way if they are partially frozen. I took my package of chicken out of the freezer in the morning, stuck it in the fridge, and then did a quick defrost in the microwave when I got home from work. This softened it enough that it was no longer frozen solid, but it was still firm enough to cut easily.

In a small bowl, pour 2 T teriyaki sauce (I used a 30-minute marinade) and add 1 tsp ground ginger.

Toast 1 T of sesame seeds in small skillet over medium heat. It won't take long at all, and they burn much sooner than you'd expect so don't walk away and leave them unattended. When they just barely start to brown, they're ready. Toss them in with the teriyaki sauce and ginger and mix well.

Put vegetable oil on a paper towel and wipe over grill rack. Then place the chicken breasts (or halves of breasts, really) on the rack. I slathered them with some additional teriyaki sauce first, smeared it around on them in a large ziploc bag. You can do that, or not. Once they're on the grill, brush them with the teriyaki sauce mixture you made.

Grill about 5 minutes, then rotate 45 degrees to create some pretty grill lines. Grill 5 more minutes in this position, then flip. Brush the second side with the sauce. Grill 5 minutes in this position, then rotate 45 degrees and grill another 5 minutes. Check periodically for burning. About 20 minutes total should do the trick, but slice through the thickest piece and make sure it's no longer pink inside if you want to be sure they're done.

Discard remaining sauce mixture.

Serve with hot angel hair pasta and a veggie. Fresh green beans from a friend's garden were perfect with this summery dinner! Husby liked soy sauce on his pasta.