"This-is-my-favorite-chicken" Chicken

I didn't intend to do back to back recipe posts, but evidently I'm batting a thousand with dinner this week. The Bean raved about tonight's chicken so much ("I love this! I would like to have it tomorrow night, too!*") that I wondered if she could be entirely sincere. Surely she's too young (4) to be playing me so masterfully ;). In any case this dish earned astonishingly high praise from her, so maybe you and yours will dig it too.

My Bean's Favorite Chicken
1/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce
1 T. lime juice
1/4 t. curry powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs

Put everything together in a big ziploc bag and marinate for however long you've got.

Aside: I heard somewhere (NPR?) that someone (a chef?) experimented to see if marinating overnight really makes meat taste better than marinating it for much less time. If I remember right, the point of diminishing returns was something like 20 minutes. That made me feel better about all the times I'm "supposed" to have marinated something for most of the week or whatever, but didn't defrost it in time, so settled for an hour-ish and couldn't tell the difference.

Now that you're done marinating, empty the ziploc into a 13x9 dish and bake at 425 for 40 minutes.

Or grill the chicken, but if you do, boil the marinade on the stove for at least a minute, then use it to baste.

I served this with wild rice and peas, but I think it'd be better with mashed potatoes and carrots.

*I fully intend to call her bluff. Tomorrow night is Leftover Clearinghouse chez SandyShoes.