A Family That Eats Together: Grilled Chicken with Bruschetta

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear.

Nicole's meal plan for this week features Moroccan meatballs with couscous, pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, beef stir-fry with snow peas, penne with sausage and peppers, and this grilled chicken with bruschetta—perfect for an early summer barbecue.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

for the chicken

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

for the tomatoes

• 2 large seasonally fresh tomatoes, ideally heirloom, cored and chopped
• 8 fresh basil leaves, torn
• 2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 4 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the grill to high.
2. Combine the tomatoes, basil, thyme, garlic, oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside until everything else is ready.
3. Pound out the chicken by placing a large sheet of plastic wrap on a cutting board. Place the chicken on top and another piece of plastic wrap over the chicken. Using a kitchen hammer (or the bottom of a heavy skillet) pound out the chicken to ½ inch thick. Drizzle oil on both sides of the chicken and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4. Toss the sliced bread in a bag (the ones you place your vegetables in from the grocery store) with oil and salt. Make sure to coat the bread thoroughly.
5. Place the chicken on the grill and lower the heat to medium-low. Grill about 4–5 minutes per side. They are done when they are no longer pink inside. Don’t over-cook chicken breast, as they will become tough. Place the bread on the coolest part of the grill and cook for about 2 minutes per side or until they are lightly toasted brown.
6. Plate the chicken and crostini by drizzling the tomatoes over the top with a bit of their juices.