GRILLED BALSAMIC CHICKEN BREAST

Last week on the fourth, we decided to go down to the river in Parkville and watch the fireworks. The Parkville Symphonic Orchestra was having a concert beforehand and we wanted to get there early enough to hear that. 

Earlier in the day,I prepared the marinade for the Grilled Balsamic Chicken Breast and took the chicken tenders out of the freezer to thaw. We got busy though and ended up not eating lunch until around 2. That meant we weren't going to be hungry when it was dinner time.  

So we decided to grill the chicken and then just take it and eat later in the evening when we got hungry. (We thought the orchestra was going to be playing outside, but the concert was held inside a church on Park University.)  

But that was okay. The concert was over at 8:30 and the fireworks weren't going to start until 9:45. That would be plenty of time to eat. (I taught school too many years when I only had about 15 minutes to eat my lunch so I still have a tendency to eat too fast.)

That meant we would be eating them cold, but they were still really good. They were so good, I ended up eating 3 of them.

I am so glad to have seen this recipe from Smart Balance because my husband loves to grill and it doesn't end up heating up the kitchen with the oven on baking chicken as I usually do.

The chicken was so tender and not the least bit dry.

GRILLED BALSAMIC CHICKEN BREAST

8    chicken tenders or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast

FOR THE MARINADE:

1/4    cup balsamic vinegar
1/4    cup canola oil
3/8    teaspoon garlic powder or 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
Sea salt, to taste (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
ground black pepper to taste (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
2      teaspoons rosemary leaf or 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary

Mix up the marinade ingredients and pour over chicken in a ziplock bag.I started them in a casserole dish, but there was enough marinade to completely cover them, so I poured it all in a bag. It works so much better anyway, but you can keep turning the bag over so that all the meat gets marinated.

Let it marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours, but preferably 4 - 6 hours or longer. (I left mine in for 4 hours and about every hour would turn the bag over to make sure all the chicken was being covered.)

Ready for the grill.













Preheat an outdoor grill to 350 degrees F. Rub the clean grates with cooking oil to prevent the chicken from sticking.

Lay the chicken on the grill.  

For tenders cook for 5 minutes and then turn the tenders over to grill on the other side for 4 - 5 minutes. For whole breast, cook for 10 minutes on one side, then 8 - 10 minutes on the other side.