I've been wanting to try a new recipe each week, but my boring-ness keeps me cooking the same things over and over each week! Basically, I make grilled chicken, pork chops or baked chicken with either broccoli, brussel sprouts or roasted potatoes. I have been getting fancy and putting balsamic glaze reduction on my chicken and brussel sprouts! I know, you're amazed! Sometimes I'll pop a tomato and low-fat swiss on top of the grilled chicken {but only when I'm feeling CRAZY, haha!}.
I love Caprese Salad, so when I ran across this on Pinterest, I pinned it and thought one day I'd try it! On a side note, what did we do before Pinterest? I don't spend nearly as much time on there as I used to, but still! I tweaked the recipe a bit but here it is: (I copied it straight from her website, but what's in BOLD I've changed)
Caprese Chicken
Yield: 4 servings
recipe note: Balsamic vinegar comes in many forms. I really recommend a higher quality one - it truly does make a difference. A low quality balsamic vinegar is very thin - like water. A higher quality one is slightly thicker (not as thick as balsamic glaze, but somewhere in the middle of the two).
I halved the recipe, it's only me. I also grilled my chicken instead of putting it in the pan.
ingredients:
4 skinless chicken breasts
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper I used garlic salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
10 large basil leaves, finely chopped
8 oz fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced in 1/2 inch thick slices I used low-fat mozzarella (shredded)
balsamic vinegar, to taste I used balsamic glaze reduction (it's all I had)
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper I used garlic salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
10 large basil leaves, finely chopped
8 oz fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced in 1/2 inch thick slices I used low-fat mozzarella (shredded)
balsamic vinegar, to taste I used balsamic glaze reduction (it's all I had)
directions:
Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts and set aside.
In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add chicken, cover pan, and cook for about 10 minutes. Flip chicken breasts and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked thoroughly (or has reached an internal temp of 165°F).
While chicken is cooking, in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add tomatoes and continue sautéing until tomatoes skin starts to soften/wrinkle, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil. Set aside.
Once chicken has reached desired doneness, top the tops of each chicken breast with 2 slices of mozzarella. Pour tomato mixture on top. Cover pan with lid once more and let the mozzarella melt, about 1-2 minutes.
Lastly, drizzle with a splash of balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.
I'd rather grill my chicken and other than that, I only tweaked a few things more to my taste! If you have a Trader Joe's near you, I suggest you go buy their Cage Free Organic Chicken Breasts...they're slightly more expensive but OH.MY.GOSH. they are soooooooo amazing!! The absolute juiciest chicken breasts I've ever had!! They drip with juice when you take them off the grill! And I of course made broccoli on the grill to go with it...gotta stick to what you know! I actually got it a little too done but it was still good!
I had it again tonight, because those pieces of chicken are huge and I cut them in half so I can basically make four meals out of it! It was just as good, if not better today!!
Enjoy this meal...if you like all the ingredients it's a must make!
