Grilled Chicken with Romas and Basil

As much as I would LOVE to lay claim to creating this recipe, which is AMAZINGLY FLAVORFUL, mind you, alas, I cannot.  This is the delectable brain child of Chef Paul McCullough and is featured in his self-lamenting (and incredibly wonderful) cookbook Roma-therapy, by Paul McCullough and Jeremy Stanford. To learn more about Chef Paul's alleged "fall from grace" as he laments, you are more than welcome to visit his Twitter page (@RomatherapyBook) and I strongly urge you to purchase his extremely reasonably-priced book.  It is "plum" full of history, factual information about tomatoes we would never have known about, and, more importantly, is relevant to our health-conscious times,physiologically, and Chef Paul provides us with beautifully photographed (thanks, Jeremy Stanford!) dishes and fantastic recipes employing Chef's arch nemesis.  I believe Chef Paul's "fall from grace" is the stairway to our ascension to tomato nirvana.  Let's get to the recipe!

Prep 6 Roma tomatoes: slice into quarters, remove the seeds and center and slice into thin strips.  You are going to marinate the tomatoes. The marinade ingredients are as follows:

1/4 cup very thinly sliced vidalia onion (I used a red onion)

1/2 cup olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

8 basil leaves, chiffinade  (sliced into thin ribbons)

Add the tomatoes and gently toss into the marinade.  Cover and allow the bowl to sit for an hour at room temperature.  

 

The chicken also gets a marinade makeover.  Let's get to that, now, too!

The Marinade:

3/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon Beaver (R) Sweet Hot Mustard

1 tablespoon Spikes (R) Original Seasoning Magic  (I did not have this)

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic (I used finely grated fresh garlic)

1/2 teaspoon dry minced onion

1 teaspoon dry parsley

1 pinch poultry seasoning

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

*I also added some red onion to this marinade, to use the rest of it up. 

Whisk together the ingredients for marinade in a large bowl.  Add the chicken and coat well. Marinate for an hour in the refrigerator. I like to marinate meats in a gallon-sized zip-lock bag.  My frig at the time was jam-packed full of "stuff" I was going to take to my mom's the next day and I simply could not fit a bowl in it.  BUT, I could slip a bag atop other containers.  That is why I did not marinate the chicken in the bowl, as directed.  Sorry, Chef!!!

 Preheat the grill at the setting just below high (medium-high).  Place the chicken breasts on the grill at an angle (to get those beautiful grill marks!).  Cook for four-to-five minutes on each side (depending on the thickness of the meat), until the meat reads 165-degrees.  

Remove the chicken and allow to rest a couple of minutes.  Top with the prepared tomatoes and be sure to drizzle their oil-vinegar dressing atop, as well!  Serve and enjoy.  

 I wanted to take a moment to let you know that not every kitchen has every ingredient, particularly specialized ingredients, which may be only regionally sold, perhaps not, but it is okay to make to either omit ingredients you may not have or substitute ingredients you do have in place of others.  I noted what I did, above, in order to illustrate that.  Sure is a flavor-filled, delectable dish.  Your salad is atop your main protein.  I love this dish, personally. 

 

 It sure is enjoy time! Visit Chef Paul McCullough on Twitter and learn more about him and his impeccable culinary talent.  Look up his book, Roma-therapy on his site.  It is a fact and fun-filled book.  Great accessory to Any kitchen!  I'm just sayin'!  Now...go and cook!