Herbed Balsamic Chicken

I have to admit, I’ve been making this chicken for a while now.  I just haven’t found the time to take pictures of it and blog about it.  And I feel a little guilty because it is SO GOOD!  And easy.  It kind of reminds me of the chicken from La Madeline, which I love.

I first came across the recipe on one of my regular blog reads, The Bitten Word.  It’s a Bon Appetit recipe that they blogged about last July.  They top their chicken with blue cheese…but you know I used my chicken in a salad and sprinkled the blue cheese on top!  I’m all about yummy salads!

Here’s how the recipes goes…make the marinade and add it to the chicken.  Let it sit over night (or for less or more time, depending on your schedule).  Bake.  Done.

You probably have all the ingredients you need on hand.

Things I did differently to the original recipe were 1) swapping Italian seasoning for the Herbes de Provence,  2) adding garlic to the marinade (of course!),  3) baking instead of grilling, and 4) marinating for longer than 2 hours.

And if you choose to go the salad route too, I made a balsamic-Dijon vinaigrette…equal parts balsamic and olive oil, with a little Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.  Don’t use more than 2 tablespoons on a main course salad. 

The salad had romaine, radicchio, yellow bell pepper, shredded carrots, green onions, part of an avocado (1/2 of a small), blue cheese (less than 2 Tbsp)…it might have had some fruit in it too?  Diced apple or pear would be good!

 

Herbed Balsamic Chicken
adapted from The Bitten Word and originally from Bon Appetit

makes 6 servings*

Printable Recipe

6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (5 to 6 ounces each)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence or Italian Seasoning**
1 3 ounce wedge blue cheese

Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag or reusable container. Whisk vinegar, oil, , garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in small bowl. Add to chicken; seal bag/container. Chill 2 hours (or longer), turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Arrange chicken on baking sheet or baking dish. Sprinkle with herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bake chicken until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Let rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.  However, if you are using the blue cheese as in the original recipe, top each with slice of cheese straight out of the oven.

Per serving*** (1 5-6 ounce chicken breast) - 275 calories, 10 g fat (4 g saturated), 3 g carbohydrates, 42 g protein (exchanges: 2 fat, 7 protein; WW points: 6)

* The serving size is 1 5-6 ounce chicken breast, but I think that’s a lot of chicken to put on a salad…I stick with about 4 ounces, or about 3/4 of a breast

** I actually didn’t use Italian Seasoning either.  I used Zoe’s Kitchen seasoning that they sell in the restaurant…love it!

*** The nutrition info assumes that only about 1/2 of of the marinade gets absorbed and consumed.  If you omit the cheese, the nutrition info looks like this: 226 cals, 5 g fat (1 g sat), 2 g carbs, 39 g protein…1 fat and 6 1/2 protein…5 WW points