Grilled Chicken Breasts with Warm Balsamic Strawberries

Grilled Chicken Breasts with Warm Balsamic Strawberries

This savory dish, from Cleveland Clinic Healthy Heart Lifestyle Guide and Cookbook , rivals those found at fine restaurants. The beauty of it is you can make this healthy masterpiece in your own home with minimal effort. Who said following a cardioprotective diet can’t get the chef a standing ovation?

Chicken:  Ingredients

• Four 3-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• ½ cup Warm Balsamic Strawberries (recipe follows)
• Minced fresh chives, optional

Directions

1. Place the chicken breasts in a shallow dish. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, oil, garlic, tarragon, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken and marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. When ready to cook, preheat a grooved nonstick grill pan. Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Cook 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with the tip of a knife.
3. Serve at once with 2 tablespoons of strawberries and drizzle a bit of the liquid around the edge. Decorate with chives (if using).

Warm Balsamic Strawberries: Ingredients

• Refrigerated butter-flavor cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Directions

1. Coat a small nonstick skillet with cooking spray.
2. Sauté the onion over medium heat until wilted.
3. Add the chives, wine, vinegar and pepper and simmer for 2 minutes.
4. Add the strawberries and cook for another 3 minutes. They should keep their shape, but the flavors should blend.

NOTE: If you make the full recipe, you’ll have some leftover berries. Refrigerate them and serve them the next day with grilled fish or add them to a tossed green salad.

VARIATION: You could use sliced peaches, plums or nectarines in place of the strawberries.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving:

130 calories (24% calories from fat)
3.5 g total fat (0.5 g saturated fat)
20 g protein
4 g carbohydrate
<1 g dietary fiber
50 mg cholesterol
210 mg sodium
285 mg potassium

This heart-healthy recipe and more than 150 others are available from the nation’s #1 heart center in the “Cleveland Clinic Healthy Heart Lifestyle Guide and Cookbook” (© 2007 Broadway Books). The cookbook is available in bookstores or online from Randomhouse.com, BN.com or Amazon.com.

© Copyright 2007 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. All rights reserved. 5/09