The simple marinade for the chicken does everything you could wish for: the lemon juice tenderises the meat, the thyme adds flavour and the oil helps to keep it moist.
Serves 6
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 tbsp olive oil
leaves from 3 large sprigs of fresh thyme
juice of 1 small lemon
3 limes, to serve
salt and freshly ground black pepper
for the mustard butter
50g (2oz) butter, at room temperature
finely grated zest of ½ small lemon
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
leaves from 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, crushed
leaves from 3 sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped
Step one Make three shallow diagonal slashes on the top of each chicken breast and put them into a baking dish. Add the olive oil, thyme, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt and some pepper, mix well and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Step two Mix together the ingredients for the mustard butter with ¼ teaspoon salt and some black pepper. Set aside somewhere cool until needed.
Step three If using a charcoal barbecue, light it 30 minutes before you want to start cooking. If using a gas barbecue, light it 10 minutes beforehand. Alternatively, you can use a ridged griddle pan or frying pan, heating it until very hot.
Step four Brush the bars of the barbecue with oil. Shake the excess marinade off the chicken pieces and cook over a medium heat for 7–8 minutes on each side until cooked through. Serve dotted with the mustard butter and barbecued halves of lime.