Meaty Monday: Grilled Chicken Paillards with Corn, Green Beans & Basil Drizzle

Certain foods, I think, are etched into our national psyche as symbols of things near and dear to our heart. If you are eating cotton candy, chances are there's a Ferris wheel not far away,  and if you're munching a corn dog on a stick, there is probably a heifer wearing a blue ribbon in her halter within spitting distance. Corn, tomatoes, basil and green beans scream "Summer!" to me in a not so subtle way. If there is ever a time of year when these foods have reached their pinnacle of perfection, it is now.

Chuck likes grilled chicken. Actually he loves grilled chicken. Really loves grilled chicken. Really thin grilled chicken. If I was willing to serve it at least once a week on a regular day (have I told you about our Tuesday burger night....?), he'd be thrilled. Me, I like change. Especially different dinners.

Since I do like to make dinners that will make us both happy, I came up with this combo that even I could eat once a week...at least during the Summer. The chicken is a simple as can be, "paillards" is just a way to describe very thin pounded slices of meat -- and the drizzle is somewhere between a pesto and a vinaigrette. This can become one of your favorite do-ahead meals. Add the two, to the corn, fresh beans and tomato, and the whole thing just sings. If you need a vegan or vegetarian (or if you are doing a Meatless Monday side dish), just replace the butter in the corn dish with evoo.

Yes, it's every bit as good as it looks. Yes, I did lick the plate.

Grilled Chicken Paillards with Corn, Green Beans & Basil Drizzle
Serves 4

For the chicken:

1/4 cup low sodium gluten free tamari soy sauce
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 garlic cloves, crushed (jarred equivalent is fine)
2T olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin (paillards)

For the drizzle:

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
3 garlic cloves, (jarred equivalent is fine)
1/2 cup evoo
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the vegetables:

1 tablespoon butter or organic corn oil
4 ears of fresh corn, shucked and kernels cut off the cob
1/2 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and broken in half
1 small fresh tomato, diced
a few basil sprigs for garnish


Instructions:

1. Early in the day, mix the first 4 ingredients and pour into a zip top bag. Add the chicken and chill until dinner.

2. Place all the ingredients for the drizzle in a blender or a mini processor and puree. Place in a covered container in the fridge until dinner time.

3. At mealtime, heat the butter or oil in a medium saucepan, over medium heat, and add the corn and the green beans to the butter. Stir to coat and sauté for a few minutes. Add 1/3 cup of water to the pan, cover and let steam for about 3-4 minutes until the beans are tender. Remove the lid and cook away all the water. Turn off the heat and stir in 3 Tablespoons of the drizzle. Cover and set aside.

4. Heat your grill to medium high, remove the chicken from the marinade (discard the marinade) and grill the chicken about 3-4 minutes per side depending on how thick it is. Place on a platter and drizzle lightly with a bit of the basil drizzle to serve. Pass the extra basil drizzle on the side.

5. Turn the vegetables into a bowl. Sprinkle the tomato over the top and garnish with a basil sprig.

Delicious corn, green beans with basil drizzle and chopped tomatoes,
easily made vegan...

Sweet Corn, Spinach & Bacon Hash with Garlic Scapes and Basil

A few weeks ago, I was flipping through a cookbook at work, when a recipe caught my eye. Specifically, "The Mom 100 Cookbook" thinking, that Ann Workman really cut herself short using the word "Mom" in the title, since these recipes were so spot-on that there are many other segments of the population who could really use this book. And many of them won't pick up a book with "Mom" in the title. Heaven knows I show the book to almost every customer who asks me about good cookbooks...but I digress. There is a recipe in there called "Sauteed Corn, Spinach, Bacon and Scallions". Took me by surprise. My own mother used to make a similar dish with leftover cooked corn cut from the cob, red onions, bacon and zucchini. It was the only way she ever got my Dad to eat zucchini without his making faces so I'd laugh. Mom called it "Corn Hash". So do I. I was a picky, rotten eater as a kid, but this sweet summery dish disappeared from my plate pronto. Still soooo good.

My Mom was a nice Italian girl raised in a mostly Pennsylvania Dutch and German area, and bacon found its way into a lot of things she cooked. I actually don't remember ever having this with any corn but a white shoepeg variety called Country Gentleman.  Tiny, sweet kernals would just pop as you ate it from the cob. Didn't need butter or salt. I don't think anyone ever grows it anymore except on a few old farms out in Lancaster and Berks counties, in Pennsylvania. Shame how some good things just disappear.

I've made it a few times over the years with leftover boiled or grilled corn (my favorite corn is a bi-color called Mirai) and my own smoked bacon, and, about three years ago, added garlic scapes from the first hardneck garlic I'd ever grown with a big handful of fresh basil. This year, thanks to Ann, it has a boost in both beauty and nutrition from adding spinach. Good thing there's a few weeks left of spinach out there in the yard unless the rabbits finish it off. We just gobbled this down.

Sweet Corn, Spinach & Bacon Hash with Garlic Scapes and Basil

I think it's interesting how a pretty basic recipe goes from cook to cook, and generation to generation, each one putting her own touch on the dish before passing it on. Thank you for the spinach idea, Ann, its perfect. Next batch may have some feta cheese or cubed Haloumi, and that version will be dinner and not a side dish. And if there are any ripe tomatoes in my garden, one of those, diced at the end and added after the spinach. So many possibilities, so little Summer.

Please try this, it's that good.

Notes: If you really can't get good in-season corn, look for a frozen super-sweet variety, and thaw under running water in a colander before using. The bacon is important in this dish. Get a double-smoked or farm-made (or your own) if you can. Thick cut. Supermarket bacon doesn't taste nearly as good in this. Don't salt, if needed at all, until the cooking is complete, the bacon and spinach may contribute enough--usually it needs none.

My new pet knife, sharper than a razor and fun to use,
 a Ken Onion design knife from Shun.

Sweet Corn, Spinach & Bacon Hash with Garlic Scapes and Basil
Adapted loosely from Ann Workman's "The Mom 100 Cookbook" and my Mother.
Serves 4-6

1/4 lb. thick cut, smoky bacon
1 cup water
1/3 cup finely diced red onion
1/4 cup minced garlic scapes, tender green parts only
4 cups sweet white corn cut from cob (about 4-5 large ears)
6 cups of loosely packed baby spinach, about 5 - 6 ounces
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, cut in thin ribbons
Fresh ground black pepper
(kosher or sea salt)

Place the bacon slices and the water in a large nonstick skillet, bring to a simmer over medium heat and let the water cook away. When the water is gone, raise the heat slightly, and continue to cook the bacon, turning frequently until brown and crisp. Remove the bacon to a paper towel to drain, and add the chopped onion and garlic scapes to the bacon fat in the pan. Cook over medium heat until the onion is soft. While the onion mixture cooks, crumble the bacon and set aside. Add the corn and crumbled bacon to the skillet and cook, stirring over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the baby spinach and the basil, and continue to cook until the spinach just wilts. Add a few grinds of black pepper, and stir well. Taste for salt and add if needed.
Devour.