Deli Mustard Chicken and Summer Salad Bar

Deli Mustard Chicken and Summer Salad Bar

The Challenge: got home from a 2 week vacation the night before, having parents over for dinner to view vacation photos, and Mom is on a lean and green diet.

Challenges are my favorite way to come up with new things to cook.  It forces me to think more creatively and try something new based on the challenge restrictions.  In this case a lean and green meal was required, and something I didn't have to slave over considering there wasn't any food in the house and the humidity was killing us.  And time couldn't have been better because a Whole Foods opened about 1 mile from our house that I wanted to explore anyway.

The Plan: Chicken was my first thought because it takes a quick marinade well and I can grill it in no time.  And I wasn't quite sure about all of my mom’s diet restrictions so I went with a deconstructed salad, or salad bar with some special ingredients.

Deli Mustard Chicken

Prep time: 5 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts – butterflied into two thin pieces each and 4 large boneless skinless chicken thighs

¼ cup deli mustard – or Dijon with whole mustard in it

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp white wine

Instructions:

Whisk together mustard, oil, and wine in a large bowl.  Toss chicken to coat and leave covered in the fridge until ready to grill.  I recommend about an hour, and no more than three hours.  When your dinner guests arrive you just need about 10 minutes to grill the chicken over medium high heat.  I grill 7 minutes on one side, flip and finish for about 3 minutes on the other side.

Summer Salad Bar

Prep each of the different elements before dinner, cover and refrigerate in separate serving bowls.  When your guests arrive; set out the different items for a build your own salad bar.

The Greens

Prep Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

2 cups baby kale

2 cup of baby spinach

2 cup of mixed greens

Toss greens together and they can be refrigerated in a serving bowl. Most people are used to mixed greens and baby spinach, but this mix is a great way to get the healthy kale hidden in there.

Assorted Tomatoes

Prep Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

1 cup cherry tomatoes halved

1 cup yellow pear tomatoes halved (or 2 cups of whatever tomatoes you'd like.)

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Salt & Pepper

Whisk together 1 tbsp. of good olive oil and 1 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper, in the bottom of a serving bowl.  Toss the tomatoes and refrigerate up to 1 hour.

Pickled Vegetables

Prep Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

1 cucumber - sliced in half moons

1 small zucchini - sliced in half moons

1 red onion - quartered then thinly sliced

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

1/8 cup of pickling spice - Ball Kosher Dill Pickling Mix

Stuff the cut vegetables into a 1 quart jar – or you a large bowl.  Prepare the pickling liquid by combining water, white vinegar and pickling spice in a small sauce pan. Heat to a boil over the stove.  Pour hot liquid over the vegetables.  Let vegetables cool on the counter for a half hour then move to the fridge for at least an hour and up to three weeks.  Strain before serving.

Herb Goat Cheese

Prep Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

4 oz of plain goat cheese

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

1/4 tsp. red pepper flake

1 tsp. of dried rosemary

1 tsp. of dried parsley

Combine all ingredients thoroughly with a fork, refrigerate until ready to serve.

Mustard Vinaigrette

Prep Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. of mustard

pinch of salt and pepper

1/8 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/8 cup of white wine

¼ cup of good olive oil for the dressing

I like to shake up my dressing in a ½ pint jar or whisk in a bowl.  Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.