Grilled Chicken on Cherry Tomato Panzanella

I am just showing off with my beautiful red & yellow cherry tomatoes again.

This is summer at its best. Grill some chicken breasts and serve over this beautiful bread & tomato salad.

Panzanella is very forgiving. You can use stale bread, or if you don't have any old bread, toast up some good slices like I did (a good ciabatta works).

You can use any variety of tomato and any fresh herb you like.

You can add mozzarella or feta if you are keeping this a meat free dinner, otherwise let's grill the bird.



Cherry Tomato Panzanella w/ Grilled Chicken:

4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin
kosher salt & pepper

Salad:
2 lbs. of mixed cherry tomatoes, (yellow, red, green), halved
handful of chopped kalamata olives
1 cup of fresh basil leaves, sliced (I used opal and green)
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
6 slices of old crusty stale bread (or toasted fresh slices), torn into pieces

Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
kosher salt & pepper

You can make the salad 2 hours in advance and keep on the counter at room temp. The longer it sits, the better it is.

Combine the tomatoes with the other salad ingredients in a large bowl and add the torn bread pieces.



Pour the dressing over the bread and tomatoes, toss to coat and let rest.

Season the chicken breasts w/ kosher salt & pepper and grill for about 6 minutes per side, depending on their thickness.

Place the dressed panzanella salad on a large platter and place the grilled chicken breasts over the salad.



Serve and enjoy!
This is one of my favorite and easiest summer dinners.

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