Zesty chicken thighs to make your BBQ swoon

Gas is for cissies

Oh, ok, so we skipped spring and went straight to summer. I have no problem with this at all, except for that moment of panic when I forgot what clothes I normally wear in hot weather (it's been sooo long!). I will ignore the fact that the rain is returning next week and pretend this is it for the next couple of months. Divine. I would put money on the fact that I'm not the only sun-lover planning BBQ based treats for what is set to be a magic weekend of sun. Therefore it was only right to share one of my favourite recipes for chicken on the barbie. I hope you like it as much as I do. Boneless chicken thighs are pretty much made for a charcoal grill. Don't be talking to me about gas ones, where is the fun in flicking a switch when you can play with coal, fire lighters and paraffin to your heart's content? However trying to pry the liquid paraffin from The Boyfriend's hands (for the sake of safety, for us, and surrounding trees) can be challenging. I served this with barbecued asparagus and some steamed courgette ribbons tossed with a bit of crumbled feta and a simple dressing of lemon juice and olive oil.

As this is a marinade it's all a bit loose in quantities, but the following recipe is enough for about 12 boneless chicken thighs. Add the following to a dish big enough to fit your chicken thighs in one layer: 6 chopped garlic cloves, either a load of dried chilli flakes or chopped red chillis, the grated zest and juice of four limes, a tbsp of  freshly crushed coriander seeds, a tbsp paprika (any type but smoked really), lots of salt and pepper and a decent glug of olive oil to loosen it up. Mix well, add the chook, coat it really well in the marinade for at least a couple of hours, and then cook on the barbie. The skin gets beautifully crispy and the dark thigh meat stays gorgeously moist, shun those chicken breasts immediately. When cooking, make sure you keep turning the meat though, otherwise you end up with crunchy carbon which is just gross. Of course you could do this with bone-in thighs or drummers or whole legs, but they are super easy to eat boneless.

And when you have a pair of tongs in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, easy to eat is preferable.