Caprese Chicken

It's supposedly summertime (though it's a bit chilly here today), so I figured it was time to break out a recipe that has been sitting in the drafts for a while. It's a good summertime, dinner on the patio sort of meal...and one that Collin was very happy to see.

(Excuse my crummy food photos...apparently I tried to do all of this with my phone camera. Genius.)

In order to come up with this one, I modified a recipe from The Pioneer Woman (who I'm sure many of you are familiar with). Instead of her bruschetta chicken, I made some slight modifications and added a pile of cheese to make it into caprese chicken. Collin is a huge fan of caprese salad, so I knew that would probably make this recipe a hit.

What You'll Need :

4 chicken breasts, sliced in half
1 tbsp. olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 pt. red grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
16 basil leaves, chiffonade
Salt & pepper, to taste
8 oz. mozzarella

Heat your oil over medium high in a large skillet. Add garlic and fry lightly for one minute. It should be golden brown. Watch the heat of your pan closely, as you really don't want to burn this stuff. It gets ugly if you do.

Pour your browned garlic into a mixing bowl and allow it to cool slightly.

Once cooled, add the tomatoes, vinegar, basil, salt & pepper. I had to actually look up chiffonade. Didn't have the slightest clue. Ya...apparently it just means to cut it into strips. So there you go. Cut your basil into strips and chuck it into the bowl. Toss your mixture around enough to fully coat the tomatoes, then cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. This way the tomatoes will marinate and suck up all that yummy balsamic taste. Tada! Bruschetta.

When your tomatoes are ready, season your chicken breasts with salt & pepper. I sliced my chicken into cutlets to allow for quicker cooking and a more manageable size as apparently these chickens were serious body builders.

Grill the seasoned chicken on medium heat 3-4 minutes on each side, turning once. Top with 1 oz. slice of mozzarella while hot. Spoon your lovely bruschetta and balsamic on top. Doesn't get much easier than that!