July 16, 2018

Grilled Lemon Chicken with Panko Crusted Vegetables

Grilled Lemon Chicken with Panko Crusted Vegetables. Chicken marinated in a lemon dressing and grilled to perfection. Served with panko crusted vegetables and a lemon honey sauce. Vegetables have never tasted so good.

Both of my kids are pretty good with food. For the most part, they’ll eat anything we eat. However, they’re very different in how they handle dinner. My daughter will chow down on anything we put in front of her, and since she can’t really speak yet, if she’s running low on food on her tray, will scream until we give her more. My son will eventually eat dinner, but there is a lot of back and forth until he gets there. There are lots of conversations where he says, “I don’t like this.” And we say, “You’ve never had this.” And he says, “I’m not going to eat this.” And we say, “Great, bed time.” And back and forth over and over until I’m so exhausted that I want to start throwing food against the wall. Vegetables especially provoke these conversations.

Chelsea’s Messy Apron’s One Pan Lemon Parmesan Chicken and Asparagus is one of my favorite meals. I was thinking about making it a couple weeks ago, and thought, “The asparagus is going to turn into a fight I’m just not in the mood for today.” I then started thinking that if I breaded vegetables instead of chicken, I might, just might, win a toddler food battle.

I then started thinking about how much I like tempura vegetables. If you read my Oven Fried Chicken post, you know I’m not a fan of frying in my kitchen. But the idea of making the vegetables into an oven fried tempura of sorts sounded just lovely. A crispy, seasoned outside on soft, warm vegetables. Yummmmmmm.

It was a really nice idea to think that breaded vegetables would not turn into a subject of argument with my son. But, three and half year olds are not reasonable. Hiding the vegetables in crust did not change the fact that they have colors he finds objectionable. So, we had our usual dinner time arguments.

I will tell you who did leave dinner happy: my husband, my daughter, and myself. Grilled lemon chicken with fresh vegetables is the perfect summer dinner in my book. Do yourself a huge favor and make sure you do not skimp on the honey lemon sauce – that stuff is GOOD.

Grilled Lemon Chicken with Panko Crusted Vegetables

Chicken marinated in a lemon dressing and grilled to perfection. Served with panko crusted vegetables and a lemon honey sauce. Vegetables have never tasted so good.

5 from 3 votes

Course: Main Dish

Servings: servings

Calories: 354

Ingredients

Chicken

1.5 pounds chicken breasts sliced in half if thick
3 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning

Vegetables

1 red pepper sliced thinly
1 onion cut into large chunks
1 lb asparagus
1 zucchini cut into ~1/3" slices
1 yellow squash cute into ~1/3" slices
1.5 cups panko bread crumbs I used a mixture of plain and Italian
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
2 egg whites
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp water
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1/2 lemon

Honey Sauce

2 tbsp butter melted
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning

Instructions

Chicken

In a bowl with lid, or a large plastic bag, mix together vinegar, lemon juice, chicken broth, olive oil, and lemon pepper seasoning.
Place chicken in mixture and cover. Shake to ensure chicken is evenly coated with mixture.
Put chicken mixture in refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
Preheat grill to 500 degrees, then reduce to 450. Place chicken on grill and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Vegetables

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a shallow bowl or baking dish, combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan, garlic, and lemon pepper seasoning.
In a second shallow bowl or baking dish, whisk together egg whites, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and water.
Dip vegetables in egg mixture, then dredge through breadcrumb mixture. Place vegetables on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired tenderness.