Greetings everyone! I am back from a wonderful two week Midwest trip with my husband to visit our family and friends. Our annual summer trip back home can get a little crazy busy and exhausting but it's one of our favorite vacations to take! Even after living on the East coast now for four years, we still miss the simplicity of the Midwest and our family and friends who are scattered throughout Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. This year, we split our time between Cedar Rapids, IA and Des Moines, IA where our parents are located and ended our trip in Milwaukee to visit TC's aunt, grandma and his beloved Brewers. I had never been to Milwaukee so it was fun to explore the city including trips to Miller Park for Brewers Baseball, Miller Brewery and the lakefront. Is anyone else's husband/boyfriend obsessed with baseball?? I don't mind going to games but watching it on tv is like watching paint dry sometimes. Haha. At least when I go to the games, I can people watch and eat the yummy stadium food, and that's exactly what I did at Miller Park! : ) It seriously was a beautiful ballpark and my husband was in baseball heaven seeing his favorite team play so that made me happy!
It was a really great trip, but now it's back to the reality of working out and eating healthy. I always go into detox mode when I return from vacation. We attended countless BBQ's and ate at some delicious restaurants so I was ready to get back into a healthy routine when we returned home. We grilled this healthy chicken with a delicious bruschetta topping tonight. The chicken is marinated in Italian dressing/marinade and topped with a fresh cucumber and tomato bruschetta. It was light and refreshing, but still managed to fill us up. If you are looking for a healthy and flavorful chicken dish that is easy to prepare for the summer, this is it!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far! It's hard to believe that it is the middle of July already! I promise many more recipes this summer!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the chicken:
4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup store bought Italian flavored marinade/dressing (I used Kraft Zesty Italian dressing/marinade and be sure to get one without high fructose corn syrup)
For the bruschetta:
1/2 cup peeled, diced English cucumber (could probably use regular cucumber as well)
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
8 basil leaves, torn or chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese shavings
1/8 tsp. minced garlic (optional)
1 tsp. good quality balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Place chicken breasts in a plastic container or leak-proof food storage bag with Italian marinade. Stir to coat and refrigerate until ready to grill. I marinated the chicken for 2-3 hours which was sufficient but for even stronger flavor, marinate for longer.
Preheat outdoor grill to high. Place chicken breasts on hot grill and reduce heat to medium. Cook about 5 minutes per side or until chicken is cooked through. The time per side may need to be increased depending on the size and thickness of your chicken. Use a thermometer or cut it open to be sure you have it cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking (or you can make this ahead of time), chop up and stir together all of the ingredients for the bruschetta topping in a medium sized bowl.
Remove chicken from the grill and top with the bruschetta when you are ready to serve.
Note: I cut the bruschetta recipe in half for two large chicken breasts to serve two people.
***Recipe from Tasty Kitchen
