Balsamic Marinated Breast of Chicken

Here is a marinade that is full of flavor and will definitely bring a smile to those taste buds. Traditional balsamic vinegar is of course made in Italy and is aged for a minimum of 12 years and up to 25 years. Most of the stuff we see is a modern inexpensive imitation and is mass produced. It is commonly used for salad dressings with oil and for marinades such as the one we are making today. If you happen to have the good stuff, great, but if not the other will just have to do. Lets see what we need besides vinegar.

Boneless, skinless chicken breast                               2 pounds

Balsamic vinegar                                                       1/2 cup

Olive oil                                                                    1/2 cup
Fresh Garlic, minced                                                 4 cloves
Black Pepper, fresh ground                                        to taste (lots)
Fresh Basil, chopped fine                                           1/2 cup

Rinse the chicken in cold water and trim up any extra fat. Mix all ingredients well and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to overnight if you like. When it's time, fire up that grill and away we go. The length of time to cook your chicken really depends on the size. If your using chicken breast that are about 4 ounces each 7 or 8 minutes on each side should be plenty of time on a good hot grill and if your chicken breast are larger of course it's going to take a little longer. The chicken breast I get from Fareway are huge and usually take 20-25 minutes. As it cooks the chicken will become more firm to the touch. Again if you are unsure turn that chicken over and cut a slit in it , take a look and see for yourself. No pink, it's done.

Now sometimes it's kind of nice to have a little something to go along with your chicken so I made a Bruschetta topping to go with this particular dish. It's very pretty and compliments the chicken very well. Here's the ingredients:

Fresh Tomato, diced small                     2 cups
Red Onion, diced small                           1/4 cup
Fresh Garlic, minced                               2 cloves
Fresh Basil, diced small                           1/4 cup
Sea Salt                                                  pinch
Fresh Ground Black Pepper                    to taste
Olive Oil                                                2 Tbsp
Balsamic Vinegar                                    2 Tbsp

Mix all ingredients well and chill until time to serve.

I also chose to add a Lime Basil cream sauce to this dish. Just a little something to round it all out. For the Lime Basil cream you will need a half pint of heavy whipping cream, juice from 1 small lime, a pinch of sea salt, a little fresh ground black pepper and maybe about 1/4 cup of chopped fresh Basil. In a small sauce pan add all the ingredients for sauce except the Basil. Bring this to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the cream thickens slightly. Keep an eye on this as that cream will come right up and boil over if you don't catch it. Once it has thickened pull it off the heat and reserve for later. Add the basil when you are ready to serve. 

So now we have the chicken done the sauce is made and we have a nice Bruschetta topping to compliment the chicken. Add some brown rice and a nice colorful vegetable and you have a wonderful dish that I am sure every one will enjoy!!!