grilled chicken stuffed with basil and tomato
ingredients
4 boneless, skinless pasture raised chicken breast halves (I AVOID COMMERCIAL CHICKENS!!)
(trust me when I say, invest the extra $ in trying Pasture Raised Chickens at Whole Foods, the taste alone will have you never go back!!!)
1/2 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt or alternately Celtic Sea Salt (AVOID COMMON TABLE SALT!!!)
Freshly ground organic pepper
2 organic garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp organic extra-virgin olive oil, more for grilling (AVOID CANOLA OIL, IT'S POISON)
for the stuffing
12 fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
2 organic tomatoes (I like roma and heirloom), cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
optional
If chicken breasts are too dry for your taste, make a quick sauce of honey dijon mustard and
Manuka honey to "lively" it up. Either place in small container for dipping for each bite, or spread inside chicken after done. But try not to cook the sauce, because the heat will destroy the healthy healing properties of the Manuka honey.
directions
Butterfly chicken breasts: Put halves on a cutting board, smooth sides down, with the pointed ends facing you. Starting on one long side, cut breasts almost in half horizontally (stop about 1/2 inch before reaching the opposite side).
Food Prep Tip: If you take a sharp knife and cut slits in the chicken (not straight up and down but at an angle like fish scales), it will allow the oil to sink into the chicken breast, as opposed to just sit on the surface, giving a juicier end result.
Open cut breasts like a book. Sprinkle each piece all over with 1/8 teaspoon salt; season with pepper. Transfer to a plate, and coat both sides with garlic and oil. Let stand 30 minutes.
Heat a grill or grill pan until medium-hot. Place 3 basil leaves on the bottom half of each opened chicken breast; top each with 2 slices tomato. Fold over other half of chicken breast, and secure with two toothpicks or short skewers.
Grill chicken breasts, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and no longer pink in the center, about 15 minutes.
I like to have an extra batch of oil with some simple spices (like dried basil and black pepper), to brush over the chicken while it's grilling. If you cut the slits in the chicken as mentioned above, will help grilled chicken breasts from coming out dry.
Place on a clean serving platter; garnish with basil. If desired, remove toothpicks or skewers before serving.
"The Healthy Chef's" Deliciously Healthy Food Tidbits:
Tomatoes contain lycopene, which has gained a lot of attention lately as possibly an effective fighter of prostate and other forms of cancer. Strange enough, the amount of lycopene available in the tomato increases in cooked tomatoes as opposed to raw.
Pink Himalayan Salt is a totally different animal that table salt in that it contains 84 minerals in perfect balance whereas table salt is 96% sodium, 3% iodine and 1% chemicals.
I swallow one of my home made papaya enzyme capsules after consuming grains or meat, or alternately eat some fresh papaya, Papaya helps break down meat in digestive tract.
Basil is a very good source of the all important Magnesium.
Not just a great tasting herb, basil has many health benefits including a good source magnesium .
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~stay healthy~
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2 Responses
Looks positively delightful! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks, and glad you are back!!!!!