Tonight for dinner we had one of our tried and true favorite salads and a new chicken recipe....which is now a favorite: Maple Balsamic Grilled Chicken and a salad with greens, pears, gorgonzola, and maple balsamic dressing.
I knew I wanted to make the salad, but had trouble finding a recipe for a maple balsamic chicken that didn't require me to have marinated the night before or for 5 or 6 hours! Since I couldn't find anything that worked, I decided to create my own. One of the best parts of Mr. S. working for a spice company is that our cabinets are always full of a plethora of spices and dry seasoning mixes.
Chicken breast can be rubbery and dry if not cooked or prepared well. In order to combat this, we always pound chicken breasts with a meat tenderizer before marinating or cooking them. Take each chicken breast and put it in a plastic bag. Pound it with the meat tenderizer until it's about a half of three quarters of an inch in thickness.
Maple Balsamic Chicken:
1 packet McCormick garlic wine herb marinade
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp real maple syrup
3-4 chicken breasts, pounded as described above.
Mix the spice packet, vinegar, water, and maple syrup together to create the marinade. Add chicken breasts and marinate for at least 30 minutes (we left it for about 90 minutes). Heat grill pan to medium high. Grill chicken about 4-5 minutes on either side. Because of the maple, the chicken might start to get back. This happened with ours after about 8 minutes, so I finished it off in the toaster over, on bake for 7 minutes.
Let chicken rest for 2-3 minutes. Cut chicken breasts on a bias, arrange on plat and serve.
Pear and Gorgonzola Salad
Salad
5 cups torn lettuce-romaine, red leaf, or green leaf
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 pear, sliced
1/2 c. walnuts (we didn't have any this time)
1/2 c. dried cranberries (optional)
Balsamic-Maple Vinaigrette
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 teaspoons maple syrup
1 ½ teaspoons cold water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1 clove garlic minced
We love this salad and the dressing so much that we asked our wedding venue chefs to create a similar salad for our wedding reception. It will definitely be part of our dinners for many years to come!
I knew I wanted to make the salad, but had trouble finding a recipe for a maple balsamic chicken that didn't require me to have marinated the night before or for 5 or 6 hours! Since I couldn't find anything that worked, I decided to create my own. One of the best parts of Mr. S. working for a spice company is that our cabinets are always full of a plethora of spices and dry seasoning mixes.
Chicken breast can be rubbery and dry if not cooked or prepared well. In order to combat this, we always pound chicken breasts with a meat tenderizer before marinating or cooking them. Take each chicken breast and put it in a plastic bag. Pound it with the meat tenderizer until it's about a half of three quarters of an inch in thickness.
Maple Balsamic Chicken:
1 packet McCormick garlic wine herb marinade
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp real maple syrup
3-4 chicken breasts, pounded as described above.
Mix the spice packet, vinegar, water, and maple syrup together to create the marinade. Add chicken breasts and marinate for at least 30 minutes (we left it for about 90 minutes). Heat grill pan to medium high. Grill chicken about 4-5 minutes on either side. Because of the maple, the chicken might start to get back. This happened with ours after about 8 minutes, so I finished it off in the toaster over, on bake for 7 minutes.
Let chicken rest for 2-3 minutes. Cut chicken breasts on a bias, arrange on plat and serve.
Pear and Gorgonzola Salad
Salad
5 cups torn lettuce-romaine, red leaf, or green leaf
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 pear, sliced
1/2 c. walnuts (we didn't have any this time)
1/2 c. dried cranberries (optional)
Balsamic-Maple Vinaigrette
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 teaspoons maple syrup
1 ½ teaspoons cold water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1 clove garlic minced
We love this salad and the dressing so much that we asked our wedding venue chefs to create a similar salad for our wedding reception. It will definitely be part of our dinners for many years to come!
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