Ryan Cooks: Easy Chicken Caprese

Entertaining  //  

One of my favorite things to do is to flip through the latest Food and Wine magazine, look at the amazing food pictures, and then decide which recipes I want to try.  The first step to cooking a great meal is to simply be able to read and follow directions.  There are 1000’s of AMAZING recipes available online, many of which anyone can easily cook.  Yes, great chefs can easily create something masterful from a bag of yams, gummy bears, and duck breast (just watch Chopped on the Food Network), but for the most part, we just want to enjoy a finely cooked meal with fresh ingredients.  If you continue to follow along with our blog, hopefully I’ll be able to inspire you to try something new, give cooking a try, and to stop ordering take out every night.

There are probably plenty of studies on the positive health effects of cooking your own meals, but for us, it just makes us feel better knowing exactly what we are eating and how it was prepared.  Plus, their is an amazing joy and sense of accomplishment in sitting down to eat a dinner you just created.  So to kick off Ryan Cooks, we are starting with a super easy recipe we are calling Easy Chicken Caprese.

Recipe: Easy Chicken Caprese

Ingredients:

    • 1/2 pound spicy marinated bocconcini (mozzarella balls), plus the oil from the container
    • 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded 1/2 inch thick
    • Salt (optional)
    • Freshly ground pepper
    • 1 pint heirloom cherry or grape tomatoes
    • Olive oil, for grilling

When we are cooking we always like to make enough for left overs the next day for dinner or possibly even lunch.  Since there are just the two of us, 4 chicken breast halves will be more than enough.  We knew we were going to be cooking the chicken right away so we purchased boneless air chilled chicken breasts at our local Whole Foods.  Air chilled always just seems to taste a little fresher to us but any type of chicken breasts should suffice.  The breasts we bought were already relatively thin, if your chicken breasts are larger, use a mallet to pound them to 1/2 inch thick.

If you are vegetarian, feel free to substitute tofu or portabella mushrooms in place of the chicken.  Also, if you can’t find heirloom cherry tomatoes, regular grape tomatoes or diced whole tomatoes will do just fine.

Step 1: Prepare the marinade.

The great thing about this recipe is that the marinade is already made for you.  Just remove the mozzarella balls from the oil and poor half of the oil into a glass pan or baking dish.  Save the remaining oil for later.

Next, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, thoroughly “toss” the chicken in the marinade making sure to evenly coat all four breasts. Now is a good time to wash your hands and clean up anything the chicken may have touched.  Finish but adding freshly ground pepper. You may also add a pinch of salt but we decided to opt for a lower sodium version and stuck with just the pepper.

Cover the chicken and place in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.  After the chicken has had a chance to thoroughly soak in the marinade, remove from the refrigerator and let it return to room temperature. Letting the chicken return to room temperature will allow for more even cooking.

Step 2: Cut the tomatoes and combine with mozzarella.

While the chicken is marinating, cut the tomatoes into halves.

Combine the mozzarella balls, tomatoes, and remaining oil in a dish.  Toss to evenly coat the tomatoes and mozzarella balls and set aside.

Step 3: Cook the chicken.

Heat a grill pan to high heat.  Using a brush, coat the pan with olive oil to prevent the chicken from sticking.

Once the grill pan is hot, place the chicken breasts on the pan to begin cooking.  The chicken should take about 8-10 minutes to cook. Turn once at about 4 minutes.  Turning more than once throughout the process will often lead to over cooked and dry chicken, so resist the urge to flip continuously. If you are using an actual grill, the chicken may cook more quickly.

Now is a good time to grab some plates if you haven’t done so already.

Step 4: Plate and enjoy!

Once the chicken is lightly charred and cooked through, transfer to a plate.

Add the mozzarella balls and tomatoes, grab a fork and enjoy!

The original recipe I followed can be found in the September 2012 Issue of Food and Wine magazine or online here.  You’ll notice they suggest cutting the chicken into small slices and serving in a bowl as a salad.  This is a great option if you are preparing the meal in advance. I couldn’t wait to try my creation so I skipped the final step and served the chicken whole with the tomatoes and mozzarella as a side! :)