Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Giada's Grilled Chicken with Basil Dressing

Our Wednesday Supper Exchange is on hiatus during August, but just thinking of how great that concept has been, I whipped up one of my favorite meals I received from fellow mom, Christine, a couple weeks back. She'd cooked Giada De Laurentis' Grilled Chicken with Basil Dressing and it was so good that I have made it several times since that delicious supper swap. Here's the link to the recipe, and I will also quickly walk you through a couple of tips if you'd like them.

The "dressing" (shown before and after in the blender) is akin to a thin, really tangy pesto. It's loaded with lemon flavor and is this vibrant green. In addition to being wonderful on the grilled chicken, it is equally delicious drizzled over grilled veggies or stirred into a quinoa or couscous salad so save any leftovers (in the fridge for several days).

For the chicken, the recipe calls for 6 breasts but I did it with half as many making dinner for 4+ lunch for my husband to take to work the next day since like to pound my chicken really thin (a technique learned from my mom). Simply put chicken breasts between two pieces of wax paper, and then pound it with (the bottom of) a pan (or other heavy object) until 1/2 inch thick. There! Your own chicken cutlets! (For older children, this is a great way to get them involved...)

When marinating meat or fish, I usually toss everything in a gallon zip-loc bag. Easy to store in the fridge, and makes clean-up simple (toss it).

Success. Dinner was quick to make and so pretty for a summer supper...

and my lucky (if I might say so myself) husband had a healthy lunch to enjoy the next day.

5 comments:

  1. Wow. I had a Wahoo's taco for lunch that was made with about 1/50 that amount of love. I can't wait to try this Eila!

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  2. Looks delish...hmmm,don't have a processor tho...can I shred it and make a semi pesto? xx

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  3. My Cuisinart broke, um, I cannot even remember how long ago so I have been "processing" everything in my cheap blender (sometimes with better results than others since it lacks some get up and go). My gut is that this recipe does need to be pulverized though, so shredding by hand would be a bear. I would opt for either a food processor, blender, or immersion blender for this one.

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  4. This looks amazing! I love marinading in ziploc - I can't wait to try this. Giada always has great ideas and you've definitely made a great dish here!

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  5. yum. will try when I am back in my own kitchen. way to go Eila and Christine for getting props on the blog. :)

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