Garlic & Herb Balsamic Chicken

                                  

This quick, easy and delicious chicken is one of my favorite work night recipes. Perhaps someone out there is already making this exact chicken, but I threw this together one night after work with ingredients I had available and it has been on the menu ever since.

We always have organic chicken breasts or tenderloins in the fridge. I buy raw honey, extra virgin olive oil, bags of garlic, and balsamic vinegar of Modena in bulk so as to never run out. These are staples in my  kitchen. I can always mix up a vinaigrette with numerous variations. Oregano, basil, and rosemary  are three herbs I use quite a lot. I try to have fresh and dried versions on hand. I often use all of them together and sometimes I am more drawn to the scent of one over the other. They are all good. Definitely also staples in my pantry.

 Here are the ingredients for this recipe:

4-6 Organic chicken breasts, cut into tenderloins
Extra-virgin olive oil (organic if you have it)
Balsamic vinegar of Modena
Fresh cloves of garlic, sliced
Oregano, basil, rosemary, sea salt, pepper
Raw honey
Dijon Mustard

Instructions:

To prepare the chicken simply coat a large skillet or dutch oven with a generous amount of evoo, approx. 1/3 cup,  over medium heat on your stove. Add the cloves of garlic. I use plenty of garlic. It is a cancer fighter and we love it. The garlic becomes like candy to me after it is cooked in this recipe. Use as much or as little as you like. I personally have used anywhere from 8-10 large cloves of garlic so that you get bits of it with each and every piece of chicken. Just as soon as the garlic looks like it is starting to brown, which will take about 2 minutes, go ahead and put the chicken in the pan. Season it very  lightly with sea salt and pepper and then heavily with the herbs. Turn the pieces over and do the same to the other side. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the chicken about 6 minutes on one side, then flip it and cook it about 6 minutes on the other side. Scoop the garlic up when you turn the chicken and spoon it over the chicken. Both sides should be crispy and browning. You should have a lot of browned bits stuck to the pan. Before the chicken starts to stick to the pan you need to deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar of Modena. Pour the vinegar into the pan, approx. 1/3 cup. Turn down the heat to medium, put a lid on the pan, and then shake the pan to coat the chicken well with the balsamic vinegar. Take off the lid, flip the chicken, and then cover the pan and shake it again to coat the other side. Remove the fully cooked chicken to a serving platter while you mix the warm balsamic vinaigrette in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and add about 1/3cup of evoo to the pan, 1/3 cup of raw honey, 1/3 cup of dijon mustard and a couple of dashes of the balsamic vinegar. Stir well with a wooden spoon or whisk, picking up all of the browned bits, until it is slightly reduced and creamy, about 2 minutes. Spoon some over the chicken.

I like to serve the chicken on a bed of mixed organic greens. Usually I will add some walnuts and red onion. Sometimes I add some grated or crumbled grass-fed cheese. I pour the warm vinaigrette over the salad and refrigerate any leftover. My favorite sides to serve with this are my homemade oven-roasted and marinated beets, steamed lemon-butter asparagus or baked sweet potato.  

This meal takes about 30 minutes start to finish. It has become a family favorite because it is so tasty and versatile. I feel good when I serve this because it is healthy, and I don't have to wear myself out at the end of  a hard day. The house smells wonderful when it is cooking and everyone can't wait to join each other at the table by the time it is ready.