This week's recipe is easy, doesn't require a lot of prep time, and is fresh & delicious! My favorite combination. I have a confession to make. I never ate tomatoes before our vacation in Italy this summer. I would eat tomato sauces, or tiny diced tomatoes if they were cooked in something, but I've never been a fan of raw tomatoes or large pieces of tomato. Maybe it was all the fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes bursting with flavor that we were served in Italy, but I've acquired a taste for tomatoes. You still won't find me eating a salted tomato slice or taking a bite out of one like an apple, but I've expanded my appreciation for tomatoes. I decided to use some of our favorite flavors from Italy to create this dish.
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (I use organic)
1 ripe medium-sized tomato
bunch of fresh basil
ball of fresh mozzarella cheese
garlic powder
kosher or sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
olive oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a glass cooking dish with olive oil or nonstick spray. Sprinkle both sides of each chicken breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and lay in the dish. Bake for 45 min to 1 hour, until the middles are no longer pink and the juice runs clear.
While the chicken is baking, wash and dice the tomato. Wash and dry the basil leaves, then cut them into thin ribbons. The easiest way to do this is to stack several basil leaves together, roll them up, then slice down the roll, each cut about half a centimeter apart. Slice the mozzarella into 8 slices. You may not need your entire ball of mozzarella.
When the chicken is baked through, remove it from the oven and top with the diced tomato, the basil, and 2 slices of fresh mozzarella on top. Return to the oven until the mozzarella is melted.
I served our Bruschetta Chicken with Garlic and Herb Quinoa Pilaf topped with a little grated fresh parmesan cheese. You can find the quinoa recipe here at Aggie's Kitchen.
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