Grilled Balsamic Chicken Bruschetta

My house is fully decked out for Christmas. The tree is up and the stockings are hung. My mother’s handmade ceramics are placed high on shelves where my meddlesome cats can’t knock them down. The outside is set ablaze with thousands of blinking lights so Brent will let me keep the lights inside solid. And it’s 82 degrees outside.

Yup. Eighty-freaking-two degrees.

Yes, I know there are plenty of people in 30-something degree weather who would LOVE it to be in the eighties today, but let me tell you – it does not feel like Christmas. And snowflakes look kinda silly while you’re wearing shorts and a tank top, and sweating your ass off trying to hang up lights.

It is however, weather like this that allows us to grill pretty much 365 days a year. This is a good thing because we love grilling. Especially since my oven can heat the entire house up by itself and I refuse to turn the a/c on right now. I do many variations of this type of chicken throughout the year. It’s simple, fresh and fast. Not to mention versatile and very figure-friendly without sacrificing flavor.

So if you are up north right now, bookmark it for the warmer months. If you’re down south, maybe make it the night before you have to squeeze into that holiday dress. Like I have to… in 8 days. Not that I’m counting.

Balsamic Chicken Bruschetta

*Serves 4

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

-          4 chicken breasts (4-6oz each)

-          3 tbls + 2 teas EVOO, divided

-          1.5 tbl balsamic vinegar

-          1.5 tea roasted garlic and herb seasoning

-          1 cup diced tomato

-          1/2 cup diced onion

-          ½ cup diced fresh mozzarella cheese

-          3 tbl fresh minced basil

-          1 tea white wine vinegar

-          S&P

My black thumb strikes again!

I was lucky enough to inherit a lot of great qualities from both of my parents, but their green thumb was definitely not one of them. It’s pretty much a give in that I will eventually kill any plant I’m put in charge of. I can’t even keep those little “lucky bamboo” plants alive longer than a month or so. I have no idea why I seem to have such a honker of a black thumb, but I figure I can’t excel at everything in life and accept it as a small flaw and then go eat some ice cream.

Still, every year I am so jealous of people who can plant a little garden and get beautiful veggies and herbs by summer’s end. This year I decided to give herbs a try and I was met with some success. I planted basil, cilantro, parsley, chives, dill, and oregano. What I ended up with is a lot of weeds, a sprout of dill, a little tiny bit of cilantro, the start of some parsley and more basil than I know what to do with at this point. The basil has pretty much become a monster plant.

Surprisingly Brent knows more about growing herbs than I knew he did, and has helped me out a wee bit. But then he keeps saying we should give some of the basil away and I’m thinking not. I grew something! From a seed. It’s like my baby and there is no way someone else is going to reap the benefits of my diligent watering everyday. Especially since everything else was pretty much a bust.

This picture was about two weeks ago and it has gotten even bigger!

So I’ve been dreaming up as many ways to use the basil as possible. One dish I knew without a doubt I was going to make once I could pillage some leaves was a caprese salad. For me the caprese salad screams summertime with fresh ripe tomatoes, sweet mozzarella, and bright basil. It’s an absolutely perfect salad and I could probably eat it everyday if given the chance.

While the last thing the world needs is another recipe for such a simple salad, I figured I’d share the basic idea here because just posting my failed attempt at growing herbs isn’t all that exciting. And I’ve come realize that I do one thing that most people do not… I add some red onion. Is that weird? I just like the contrast of flavor it has against the other ingredients. Don’t use too much though or it will overpower everything else.

On the day I went to pick up the tomatoes, the larger vine-ripened and beefsteaks weren’t looking so hot. They were kinda pale and not a juicy red color, so I went with roma that day. Use any kind you prefer.

Caprese Salad
*Serves how ever many you want!
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:
- fresh, beautifully ripe tomatoes
- fresh mozzarella
- red onion
- basil
- balsamic vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper

Fast and Loose Directions:

- Evenly slice your tomatoes and mozzarella to be about the same size. Generally I use about 25% less mozzarella than I will tomato. Layer on a plate.

- If doing larger slices of tomato and mozzarella, thinly slice red onion, or mince red onion if using smaller, bite-sized portions. As a general rule, I will only use about the same amount of red onion as I will basil. Layer in or on top of salad.

- Tear or mince basil. You can leave it whole as well and layer in-between the mozzarella and tomatoes.

- Season with salt and pepper, than lightly drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

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Baked Spinach and Sausage Stuffed Tomato

In general, I think the theory that our taste buds changed every seven years is true. When I was little I didn’t care too much for tomatoes, but now I like them for the most part. Except, I still hate the squishy guts inside. I love the idea of stuffing tomatoes and baking them till they are slightly soft. This is probably because I have a slight obsession with stuffing items with delicious concoctions. It’s safe to say that anything stuffed makes me happy. And if you pair something stuffed with any kind of dip or sauce, I have seriously died and gone to heaven.

Anyway, this recipe can do triple duty in your kitchen. It can be served as a main course, an interesting side dish, or if you use roma tomatoes, it can be a great appetizer. This makes 4 large vine-ripe or beefsteak tomatoes, but if you want to make it as an app, go with about 6 roma tomatoes and halve them.

Even though my cheese got a little too browned, I couldn't not share these with you.



Italian Sausage and Spinach Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
*Makes 4
(printable recipe)

What you need:
- 4-5oz loose mild Italian sausage
- 4 large beefsteak or vine-ripened tomatoes
- ¼ cup minced onion
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 1/3 cup frozen spinach, squeezed of excess liquid
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
- salt and pepper

Arugulamania Dish #1

So with a good amount of incredibly tasty arugula walnut pesto in my fridge I decided to give it a work out and planned a couple of meals using it. It actually could have been three, but I kept snacking on it too much.

The night I made the pesto I dreamed up this little pasta dish. A majority of the ingredients I had on hand, so it made for a quick and very delicious tasting supper. You could also make this meal with regular pesto, or omit the chicken and double up on the mushrooms for a vegetarian option.

Before I get started, let me point out that in this recipe I used a store bought marinade for the chicken AND a store bought alfredo sauce. I’m not opposed to short cuts in my cooking from time to time. You can certainly use your favorites in replace of mine, but I have noted what brands I used.

Grilled Chicken and Portobello Pasta

with Arugula Walnut Pesto Cream Sauce

*Serves 2

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

- 1 marinated chicken breast, pounded to even thickness*

- 2 medium Portobello mushrooms

- 1 ¼ cup prepared alfredo sauce**

- 2 tablespoons Arugula walnut pesto

- ½ pound of fettuccini pasta, cooked al dente

- 1 roma tomato, diced (optional)

- EVOO

- S&P

* We used Lawry’s Herb and Garlic 30 minute marinade. Use whatever kind you prefer.

** If you’re feeling extra ambitious, you can make your own. We used Buitoni’s brand from the refrigerator section.

Directions:

1. Marinate chicken 30 minutes prior to cooking – at least. Clean mushrooms, remove stems and toss in a light coating of EVOO and salt and pepper.

2. Start your grill and bring to temp. Once well heated, grill chicken for roughly 4-6 minutes on each side. Start before you put the portabellas on – they will only take 3-5 minutes on each side. Remove portabellas from heat when have developed a deep brown color and softened up. Chicken should be no longer pink in the inside and juices will run clear. (I can’t give you an exact time because heat temps vary and thickness varies.)

3. While chicken is cooling, heat alfredo over medium heat in a sauce pan. Once alfredo is heated through add the pesto and stir to combine.

4. Once alfredo/pesto is heated through, remove from heat and toss with hot cooked pasta until sauce coats all the fettuccini.

5. Slice chicken and portabellas and place on top of pasta to serve. Add tomatoes as garnish if you choose.

Thoughts: This was a lovely pasta dish. The arugula didn’t overwhelm the dish because the alfredo mellowed out its intensity. They combined beautifully to make a flavorful and delicious cream sauce. The grilled chicken and portabellas were perfect on top of the pasta. You can add them in – BD likes to do this – but I don’t like to when using a long cut of pasta.

I noted that the tomatoes are optional. Personally, I love fresh tomatoes on top of a pasta dish. To me it adds a light and fresh element to a pasta dish that I really love. I’ve got one more recipe to share using the pesto and I should have it up sometime this weekend.

Rae ^..^