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...

Kitchen Bargains: Divvy That Boneless Pork Loin Yourself

Every now and then you can get a real bargain at the meat counter. Not often, but you can. Everyone tells you to cut up your own chickens, etc, make stock from the bones, and yes, that IS a real money saver. But there is still even an easier meat to cut up yourself: the whole boneless pork loin. You need no skill whatsoever, as you just cut straight down and through like you are slicing a loaf of bread. Pork loin is both lean and tender, so  it takes well to cutting into both roasts and chops, and the scraps are great for sautes and stir fries. The really good thing about cutting up as much of your own meat, poultry or fish as you can is that you can cut it exactly the way your family likes it.

Seven and a half pounds of porcine beauty.

This week my boss mentioned that he'd gotten a whole boneless pork loin at a local market for cheap, so of course, being rather frugal, I ran over and got one too. Nice call, Michael! Most  whole boneless pork loins weight between 7 and 9 pounds and the cut comes from the ribs. I made a center-cut roast of about 2-1/2 lb., by basically dividing the long roast into thirds, using the middle third as a roast and cutting the rest into a dozen 1" chops--"slices". Just 15 minutes and it was all cut wrapped and labelled for the freezer. You can do this too, with nothing more than a good, sharp cooks knife or a sharp slicer. Please don't use a serrated knife, unless it has fine serrations as you'll just tear the delicate meat.

15 minutes from big roast to perfect cooking sizes!

The remaining bits will get cut and marinated for a stir fry. The same market is selling boneless center cut loin chops for double the price we paid for the whole roast. Those chops are perfect to marinate and grill, or to hammer out into pork paillards--thin slices of meat pounded to less than 1/4" thickness and quickly sauteed or grilled.

Please remember that because this part of the pig is lean and tender, you don't have to cook it to death. Our mothers apparently cooked pork until it was rock hard and dry, and old habits die hard. Don't do it. Get a good instant read meat thermometer and use it. Any whole cut of meat (not ground) including pork, is safe to cook just to 145°F according to the USDA, ensuring you have a tender, juicy piece of pork roast or chop. If it's a big cut like a roast, you can pull it from the oven a little short and let the carry-over heat finish cooking the meat. But if your family is squeamish about slightly pink pork, pull your roast from the oven at 145° and let it stand about 15 minutes before slicing, to finish cooking and let the juices reabsorb.

The way I figure this one, every knife stroke I made was worth about $2.