Marinated Grilled Chicken With Sauteed Kale and Spinach

This has to be one of my favorite chicken recipes ever.

It’s extra-juicy and ultra-flavorful. It’s super light and healthy. It’s gluten-free and paleo friendly. And, best of all, it’s incredibly quick and easy to prepare making it the perfect summer dish.

Now that it’s officially summer, I’m trying to spend as much time as I can outside enjoying the sunshine. Frankly, we are still occasionally getting some cool temperatures in the Northeast which makes our summer way too short, and I don’t want to miss it. That means spending less time in the kitchen. By adding this quick and easy marinated chicken to the summer repertoire of meals, I can enjoy those lovely summer afternoons.

You can quickly prepare the marinade in the morning or just an hour before dinner time.  Stir the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a little salt, basil, oregano, parsley and garlic together in a mixing bowl. For the balsamic vinegar, I use Bionaturae balsamic vinegar as it is sweet and delicious and certified gluten free.

 Place the thin-sliced chicken in a shallow dish and pour the vinegar and oil mixture over the chicken. Then cover and refrigerate while the chicken tenderizes and soaks up all that spicy juiciness.

Now the entire day is free to spend with your family on any summer activity you enjoy. When you’re ready to cook, this meal will come together in minutes. All you need to do is barbecue your chicken. Thin sliced chicken cooks quickly so only grill them for 4-5 minutes on each side until they are cooked through.

I love serving this chicken with a sprinkling of crumbled goat cheese. If you have a low tolerance to cow’s milk, you may find that you can tolerate goat’s milk and goat cheese. Some people have found this to be so. Read here. I used a Chèvre from the Vermont Creamery  I talked about goat cheese in my previous post.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I have a lot of kale growing in my garden. My family has been enjoying it every night. This time I sauteed it with baby spinach and added lemon zest for a refreshing citrus taste. It was a wonderful vegetable side to accompany this dish.  Just heat oil, butter and garlic in a large pot for 1 minute. Then add chopped kale and spinach. Toss and cover for 1 minute. The kale and spinach will wilt and shrink so that’s why I recommend a pound of greens. Uncover and toss with lemon zest.

Every bite of this chicken was satisfyingly delicious. I had some leftovers the next day, so I chopped up the chicken and tossed it in a salad with crumbled goat cheese. So good! Enjoy, friends!

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3 from 2 votes

Marinated Grilled Chicken With Sauteed Kale and Spinach

Extra-juicy and ultra-flavorful. Super light and healthy. Gluten-free and paleo friendly. And, best of all, it's incredibly quick and easy to prepare.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Author Barbara Bianchi

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs. thin-sliced chicken breast
• For marinade:
• 1/4 cup gluten free balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• For kale and spinach sauté:
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 8 oz. kale roughly chopped
• 8 oz. baby spinach
• zest of 1 lemon
• gluten free goat cheese crumbled

Instructions

• Marinate chicken: stir balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, basil, oregano, parsley and garlic in a mixing bowl. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Place chicken in a shallow dish and pour vinegar and oil mixture over the chicken. Then cover and refrigerate while the chicken marinates for at least 1 hour.
• For kale and spinach sauté: Heat 2 tablespoons each of oil, butter and garlic in a large pot for 1 minute. Then add chopped kale and spinach. Toss and cover for 1-2 minutes. Uncover and toss with lemon zest. (To make the lemon zest, you will need a microplane. Wash and scrub the lemon with a vegetable brush. Grate only the outer layer of the skin, rotating the lemon for just the zest and not the white pith which can be bitter.)
• Grill chicken until cooked through.
• Spoon the spinach and kale sauté onto individual plates and top with 2 slices of grilled chicken each. Scatter crumbled goat cheese on top.

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