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Balsamic Grilled Chicken

Strawberry season is here in South Carolina and the strawberries are awesome this year. I love getting as many strawberries as I can to use in oatmeal, desserts, salads and jam. A couple of years ago, my husband decided to perfect his chicken grilling method. As I mentioned in the pizza post, we have this amazing Weber charcoal grill that we love, but it tends to get very hot. This can make it difficult to get the chicken cooked well inside without getting burned on the outside. My husband has figured out how to keep the grill at 350 degrees long enough to cook the chicken. It takes awhile to get it to the right temperature but it is well worth it. The chicken breasts he grills are amazing! Flavorful, moist and cooked thoroughly.
Our favorite marinade for our chicken is this balsamic mustard marinade that he found somewhere and we frequently use. I try to marinate the chicken breasts for at least an hour but longer is better. You can put the marinade together before church and let the flavors infuse for a great Sunday lunch. We've used this a couple times for Mothers' Day. Use fresh lettuce and strawberries and whatever salad ingredients you have around. It's so good. And perfecting your chicken-grilling technique is well worth the effort.
You can also serve this chicken in any way that suits you. With rice or quinoa, in lettuce wraps or on a sandwich. Here's what ours turned out like:
Balsamic Chicken with Strawberry salad
And here's our recipe:

Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad


2 chicken breast

chicken marinade:
1 T. dijon mustard
4 T. balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 t. paprika
2 t. lemon juice
1/4 c. oil
(feel free to adjust the amounts to your preference)
Salad:
Spring greens (enough per person)
1/4 c. blue cheese crumbles
3-4 medium strawberries per person
dried cranberries (optional, or if you don't have strawberries)
sliced almonds or other nuts (optional)
any salad toppings you prefer (cucumbers are shown above)

Balsamic Salad Dressing:
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 to 3/4 c. olive oil

Combine marinade and cover chicken or put all marinade ingredients with chicken in a plastic bag. Let chicken marinate for at least 1 hour, preferably 2-3 hours would be good.
Grill chicken on low heat, around 350 degrees, for around 10 minutes per side. Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness (165 degrees).

While chicken is cooking, prepare salad. Toss greens, blue cheese, strawberries and any other optional ingredients you prefer. Combine dressing ingredients in a small jar and (after you put on the lid), shake the jar to combine the ingredients. 

Note: I've found that homemade salad dressings don't need to be refrigerated. It's best to keep them for a couple of days on the counter. But I wouldn't keep it for too long. Use your judgement on how long. If you refrigerate the dressing, the oil may clump up and make it difficult to use. But, I have started just sprinkling the vinegar and oil straight on my salad with no sugar or garlic. Just the pepper. Whatever you prefer!

Once the chicken is done, wrap it in aluminum foil and let it sit for maybe 5 minutes. Then, slice and serve over the salad, or on the side as I did in the picture.
So good! My favorite way to grill chicken.
Hope you enjoy!





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