This is another super simple recipe with ingredients that I keep on hand. Like the chili chicken, it was also a magazine find (Cooking Light) that I’ve made my own. There are a few different ways you can take this recipe but I am going to do my version and note the original. I’ve said many times on Facebook that I wish Weatherford had a proper grocery store… that is the reason I’ve had to change many recipes because many ingredients don’t exist in this town. So, here we go…
Make the pasta salad first; it is very good cold or at room temperature. You’ll need the following ingredients…
· ½ box of Penne pasta or Orzo (rice-shaped pasta that is very good and doesn’t exist in W’ford)
· ½ bag of spring greens salad mix
· 2 tablespoons of pine nuts (optional)
· 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
· 1 sprig or ½ teaspoon of fresh rosemary
· Pinch of coarse salt
Cook the pasta you choose according to package directions, drain, rinse with cool water and place in medium sized serving dish. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well. Pasta salad… DONE. If you have extra from this, it refrigerates well for lunch the next day.
Now on to the chicken, I have many notes on the best way to buy and cook chicken in the chili chicken recipe from 8/18/09. For this dish you will need the following ingredients…
· 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
· 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
· 16 pitted Kalamata olives, halved (optional)
· 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinaigrette
o ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar
o 2 teaspoons of dark brown sugar
o 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
o 1/d teaspoon salt
o ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
o ¾ cup olive oil
· 3 tablespoons of crumbled gorgonzola (or feta)
· Olive oil spray
· Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
· Chopped fresh basil for garnish
Before we start cooking let me fill you in on the ingredients. First, if you can’t get kalamata olives (very meaty dark skinned olive) for this dish, I suggest passing them up all together. The dish is fine without them and would be ruined with canned olives. Second, you can use bottled balsamic vinaigrette but I like to make my own because it makes for a richer more decadent dish. However it can be too rich for some palates, kids especially. Finally, I prefer gorgonzola to feta because it’s saltier and creamier and that’s how I like my cheese. Now we can get started…
Like all dishes, start by prepping your chicken and season it with salt and pepper. This dish is always cooked in a sauté pan because we will use the same seasoned pan for our tomato mixture after the chicken has been cooked. Extra virgin olive oil cooking spray is better for this dish because the balsamic can be heavy already from the amount of EVOO in it, so we want to keep the chicken as light as possible. On high heat spray your pan and get it hot, cold pan means the chicken will stick and we don’t want that. After a few minutes turn the pan to medium-high heat and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side only turning once. If you use a thermometer 165-170 degrees is ideal for poultry. Make sure your chicken has a nice light brown color to it and remove from the pan but keep warm. In a medium bowl start your vinaigrette and mix well, if you’re using bottled do the same and finally add your tomatoes and olives and mix well. Put tomato mixture in sauté pan and cook for one to two minutes or until tomatoes are soft.
Plating does not have to perfect like it came out of a restaurant, it’s homemade so simple is best. Spoon your pasta salad onto your plates, top with a chicken breast, then spoon the tomato mixture on top of the chicken letting it drizzle onto the pasta. Garnish with the cheese of your choice and chopped basil leaves.
I love this dish! One of my favorites and so easy, there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to finish this in 30 minutes or less. Good luck and happy cooking, or eating or both. :)
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