Apple-Marinated Chicken & Vegetables

July 2028. Forty-one years old. The birthday at the land with the usual cast—Hannah and Thomas and Wren, who was nearly a year old now and had figured out how to pull herself up against the prep table in the barn and bang on it with both hands while watching everything that happened at counter height. Caleb and River, who brought a watermelon from a stand near Kenwood—River had been asking to grow watermelons since he was eight, hadn't forgotten, and this was the next best thing. Kai, fifteen now and starting to be interested in cooking in a way that wasn't just practical assistance but actual curiosity about what flavors did and why.

Hannah's peach cake, as always. She handed it to me and said: this is probably the thing you'll remember from every birthday. I said probably. She said: that's the point. I said I know. I said the point of a ritual is that it makes certain things reliable in a world that isn't always reliable. She said Danny said something like that once. I said he said it to me too. Things that are true tend to come up from different directions.

I grilled: sumac-marinated chicken, the first corn from the garden, summer squash. Kai helped manage the grill and by helped I mean he asked careful technical questions about fire management that I answered without realizing I was being taught something in return—he'd been reading about grilling temperatures and was checking his reading against my practice. At fifteen he was doing the thing young people do when they've absorbed enough of a subject to start synthesizing it. Danny would have recognized it. I did too.

The sumac marinade I use has shifted slightly over the years — a little more acid some summers, a little more oil others — but the structure of it, marinated chicken over fire with whatever the garden is offering, hasn’t changed much since I started doing it this way. This apple-marinated chicken is the version I’d point someone toward if they wanted to understand the idea: a bright, slightly sweet, tangy marinade that keeps the chicken from drying out over high heat and plays well against charred corn and squash. Kai was asking the right questions at the grill that afternoon, and this is a recipe that rewards exactly the kind of careful attention he was already bringing to it.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min (plus 1–4 hr marinating) | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1/2 cup apple juice or fresh apple cider
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
2 ears of corn, husked and halved
2 medium zucchini or summer squash, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch planks
1 red bell pepper, quartered
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

Make the marinade. Whisk together the apple juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper in a bowl or large zip-top bag until combined.
Marinate the chicken. Add the chicken to the marinade, turning to coat. Seal and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. Remove chicken from the refrigerator 20 minutes before grilling.
Prepare the vegetables. Toss the corn, squash, and bell pepper with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
Heat the grill. Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to medium-high heat (around 400—425°F). Clean and oil the grates.
Grill the chicken. Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade. Grill chicken for 6–7 minutes per side (breasts) or 5–6 minutes per side (thighs), until cooked through and internal temperature reaches 165°F. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
Grill the vegetables. While the chicken rests, grill the corn, squash planks, and bell pepper, turning occasionally, until charred in spots and tender — about 8–10 minutes total for the corn and 4–5 minutes for the squash and peppers.
Serve. Arrange sliced chicken alongside grilled vegetables on a platter. Scatter fresh parsley over everything and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apple-Marinated Chicken & Vegetables — The Birthday Grill, Forty-One