Tuesday, September 18, 2007

When life hands you tomatoes.....

We love tomatoes in our pasta and sandwiches. So it was a delight to see all the juicy ripe tomatoes at the farmer's market last week,indicating a good harvest. As much as we tried to restraint from buying too many tomatoes, OCT and I still bought far too many for our weekly consumption. Sure tomatoes aren't expensive, but my heart still aches remembering throwing out lots of those that went bad. A consequence of overbought what we could consume.

IMGP4361Anyway, I was thinking of trying out a new recipe I had bookmarked from the september issue of Cookinglight. The recipe that garnered the test kitchen's highest rating is a sure way to catch my attention.

Chicken Breasts with Gorgonzola-Tomato Salsa is a simple dish that packs in lots of flavors. And I love its bright color.It instantly transformed the dull chicken breasts into a photo-worthy kind of dish. Since there's just two of us here, I cut down the amount of chicken used and paired it with way too much salsa. But nobody is complaining. Eating the juicy ripe tomatoes at their peaks is a real treat! Not to mention its many beneficial properties, of which "rich in antioxidant" is one of them.Because I didn't have red onion on hand, I simply omitted it and substituted with shallot. It still tasted pretty good. I think the recipe is fairly forgiving and one can certainly use more or less of the ingredients listed, to taste. Just remember to use the ripest tomatoes you can find!

I am submitting this anti-oxidant packed recipe to Sweetnick's weekly ARF 5-A-Day. Be sure to check out the roundup at her blog later tonight!

IMGP4356



Chicken Breasts with Gorgonzola-Tomato Salsa
adapted from Cookinglight Sept 2007

Combine the ingredients for the salsa--except the cheese--up to a few hours before dinner, and store at room temperature; pound the chicken ahead of time, and keep chilled.

Ingredients
2 cups chopped tomato
1/3 cup minced red onion
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola cheese


Preparation
Combine tomato, onion, basil, oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature.
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound each piece to 1-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 3 chicken breast halves to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until chicken is browned and done. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining 3 chicken breast halves.

Stir cheese into tomato mixture. Place 1 chicken breast half on each of 6 plates; top each serving with about 1/3 cup salsa.

Yield
6 servings

12 comments:

Anh said...

I love tomatoes, and I'm glad there's another recipe for me to try. This looks delicious!

Kalyn Denny said...

Looks like a really great recipe!

Sylvia said...

I love tomatoes too,and in combination whit chicken and gorgonzola is amazing

Belinda said...

What a stunning photo and a really delicious sounding recipe, Mandy! I really want to try this...I'm adding gorgonzola cheese to my grocery list. :-)

Anonymous said...

That looks delicious! We've all been drowning in tomatoes recently - the only thing I haven't done is make catsup.

Deborah said...

This looks delicious! I love gorgonzola cheese, so I'm sure this was tasty!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I saw this recipe in Cooking Light and have it bookmarked also. It sounded delicious with all those fresh tomatoes and blue cheese with the chicken.

Oh for the love of food! said...

Hey Mandy, a dish that looks this good and is healthy too is such a bonus! Love the colours.

Lisa Fain (Homesick Texan) said...

I love the combination of gorgonzola with tomatoes!

Anonymous said...

This dish looks heavenly -love the colors! I have not done this yet, but my friend who grows delicious tomatoes does this to preserve them for use in pasta sauce or stews. Blanch the tomatoes , remove the skin and freeze. You cannot use it for salsa or salad, but it will save the tomatoes. :)

Mandy said...

anh,
I am still hunting for more new recipes to use the tomatoes. Although I usually just throw lots of them in pasta. ;p

kalyn,
thanks for visiting!

sylvia,
I absolutely agree!

belinda,
let me know how it turns out for you!

nicole,
I assume that's not a bad thing. :p

deborah,
I love gorgonzola cheese too. One of the reasons I love this dish :D

valli,
Hmmm, I can attest that this dish is good after making it myself. :)

Carol,
Thanks!

Homesick Texan,
thanks for dropping by!

veron,
thanks for the idea! It's intriguing...Never thought that I could freeze tomatoes. But I would keep that in mind when I have too many tomatoes again.:)

Kajal@aapplemint said...

oh i love tomatoes too! this dish looks perfect for my dinner tonite. Thanks !

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