Baked Balsamic Chicken

I wanted an easy peasy chicken dinner to throw together, since I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands. And I adore the combination of basil, tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

BAKED BALSAMIC CHICKEN with basil and tomatoes

Cate Bogue

I came up with this recipe using what I happened to have on hand one night. I ALWAYS have caprese salad ingredients it seems, and I had a package of chicken and didn’t have a plan. Idea! Combine the two!

4 – 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup basil, julienned

2 TBSP Balsamic Vinaigrette (I make my own by simply whisking together 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil, 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar and a generous pinch of salt – can also throw in a bit of dijon mustard and a minced garlic clove if you want)

1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)

1 package grape tomatoes, halved Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray PAM over a glass baking dish. Place chicken breasts in dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.

In a bowl, combine garlic, basil, olive oil, Balsamic dressing, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.

Spread over the chicken.

Bake 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and no longer pink.

Alternately you could top the chicken at then end of the cooking time with shredded mozzarella or cut up fresh mozzarella and bake or broil until melted – then you’d have a caprese chicken bake. THAT would be yummy too!

Serve with a tossed salad of mixed greens and any veggies you have on hand.

Toss the salad with:

AUNT TRISH’S SALAD DRESSING

foodnetwork

(Recipe courtesy of Ree Drummond)

Dressing: 3/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
4 TBSP grated Parmesan, more to taste
1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
Dash or 2 of paprika
Juice of 2 lemons (or 4 TBSP Nellie and Joe’s lemon juice)
1 garlic clove, peeled and left whole Place the olive oil, Parmesan, salt, pepper to taste, sugar, paprika, lemon juice and garlic into a jar.