Grilled Chicken on Cherry Tomato Panzanella



I am just showing off with my beautiful red & yellow cherry tomatoes again.

This is summer at its best. Grill some chicken breasts and serve over this beautiful bread & tomato salad.

Panzanella is very forgiving. You can use stale bread, or if you don't have any old bread, toast up some good slices like I did (a good ciabatta works).

You can use any variety of tomato and any fresh herb you like.

You can add mozzarella or feta if you are keeping this a meat free dinner, otherwise let's grill the bird.



Cherry Tomato Panzanella w/ Grilled Chicken:

4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin
kosher salt & pepper

Salad:
2 lbs. of mixed cherry tomatoes, (yellow, red, green), halved
handful of chopped kalamata olives
1 cup of fresh basil leaves, sliced (I used opal and green)
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
6 slices of old crusty stale bread (or toasted fresh slices), torn into pieces

Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
kosher salt & pepper

You can make the salad 2 hours in advance and keep on the counter at room temp. The longer it sits, the better it is.

Combine the tomatoes with the other salad ingredients in a large bowl and add the torn bread pieces.



Pour the dressing over the bread and tomatoes, toss to coat and let rest.

Season the chicken breasts w/ kosher salt & pepper and grill for about 6 minutes per side, depending on their thickness.

Place the dressed panzanella salad on a large platter and place the grilled chicken breasts over the salad.



Serve and enjoy!
This is one of my favorite and easiest summer dinners.

Comments

Curt said…
Wow, so colorful, and so many different great flavors!
This has all of the textures and flavors that I love! Hasn't it been a fantastic summer for cherry tomatoes?
Unknown said…
Omg, my mouth is salivating! This looks sooo good! Definitely bookmarking this :) Thanks for sharing!
The JR said…
Very colorful and summery!
Oui, Chef said…
and show off you should with such beautiful tomatoes. Still need another week or so before I have enough from my garden to pull off a panzanella...I can't wait!
Joanne said…
I definitely became a panzanella fan this summer. Fabulous dish!
Beautiful tomatoes. That dish is like a sandwich you eat with your fork. Looks yummy too.
Little jewels are meant to be shown off! I'm going to miss my cherry tomatoes, I've become attached to them.
Ciao Chow Linda said…
Beautiful, delicious and healthy. I'm in.
Barbara said…
The Dressing ingredients call for 1/4 Balsamic Vinegar ... I'm guessing that's 1/4 cup?
Stacey Snacks said…
Barbara,
I changed it to 1/4 cup of balsamic.
Thanks for the correction.

Stacey
Anonymous said…
I always come here for dinner inspiration and we made this last night! Everyone loved it. Simple, fresh and delicious! Thank you for the great ideas Stacy.