Margarita Chicken

Summer. The pandemic summer. No STEM camp for Diego (closed). No chorus rehearsals for Camila (suspended). No farmers' market (still closed). No normal. But also: Luis Jr. is home, and the home-ness of him — the sound of his boots on the floor, the weight of his body on the couch, the appetite that empties the refrigerator — is the normalcy that matters most, and all other normalcies are subordinate to this one.

He returned to Fort Bliss this week. Active duty again. But local. Twenty minutes away. Sunday dinners resume. The chair is no longer empty. The deployment is over. The chair is full. And the full chair is the victory I will celebrate every Sunday for as long as the chair holds a person and not a memory.

Sofia has redesigned the bakery's entire workflow for the pandemic era. She presented me with a document — eight pages, typed, printed, bound (she loves binding things) — titled "Panadería Rosa: Pandemic Operations Manual." The manual covers: takeout procedures, delivery routes (Luis's van route, optimized by Sofia using a map and colored pins), meal kit assembly protocols, subscription management, Instagram content calendar, and — this is the Sofia part — a "post-pandemic recovery plan" that outlines how to reopen the dining room when the time comes, including table spacing for social distancing, a sanitization schedule, and a projected timeline for returning to pre-pandemic revenue. She is fifteen in July. She has written an operations manual. She has a post-pandemic recovery plan. I have a daughter who plans the recovery before the crisis is over, and the planning is the faith, and the faith is Sofia.

I made ceviche — the summer tradition, the return of shrimp and lime and mango, the food that says: summer is here, the world is still turning, the ocean still exists even if we can't go to it. Ceviche in a pandemic. The lime is the same. The shrimp is the same. The mango is the same. The eating is different — on the porch, not at the table in the bakery, not at the farmers' market — but the food is the same, and the same is the comfort, and the comfort is the ceviche, and the ceviche doesn't care about the pandemic any more than the menudo does or the conchas do or any of Rosa's recipes do. The recipes are immune. They have always been immune. They will outlast this virus the way they have outlasted everything else.

Ceviche was the centerpiece this summer, but the margarita’s bright lime-and-orange kiss is the flavor that keeps pulling me back to the porch, to the season, to the simple fact that citrus doesn’t care about closed farmers’ markets or suspended rehearsals — it just does what it always does. This Margarita Chicken carries that same spirit: a punchy, unapologetic marinade that turns an ordinary evening into something worth sitting down for, worth pulling up a chair for, worth celebrating. On the nights Luis Jr.’s chair is full again, this is what I want on the grill.

Prep Time: 15 min (plus 2 hrs marinating) | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 2 hrs 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz each)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tequila (optional but traditional)
1 tablespoon triple sec or orange liqueur
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Lime wedges and fresh cilantro, for serving

Instructions

Make the marinade. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together lime juice, orange juice, olive oil, tequila, triple sec, garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin until well combined.
Marinate the chicken. Place chicken breasts in a zip-top bag or shallow dish. Pour marinade over the chicken, turning to coat evenly. Seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 8 hours. Do not marinate longer than 8 hours — the citrus acid will begin to break down the texture.
Preheat the grill. Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high (about 400°F). Lightly oil the grates to prevent sticking.
Grill the chicken. Remove chicken from marinade and discard the used marinade. Grill chicken for 6–7 minutes per side, or until internal temperature reaches 165°F and grill marks are deep and golden.
Rest and serve. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with lime wedges and a scattering of fresh cilantro.

Nutrition (per serving)

Margarita Chicken — When the Lime Is the Same and the Same Is the Comfort