California Chicken: Served with Black Beans & Crispy Tortilla Chips
In a medium sized bowl, mix 3/4 cup, balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup honey, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, three cloves of garlic (minced) 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning and salt and pepper as desired.
1. Preheat the oven to 375°
2. Trim and pat dry the chicken. If the chicken breast is over ¾ inches thick, flatten it with a meat mallet (or if you’re like me, use the bottom of a heavy pan ;) ).
3. Hear olive oil in a cast iron pan on medium-high….
4. Type: Cast iron pan with the lines in it to make the meat look all fancy? IDK the correct name, but cast iron with the lines looks the best… in my opinion).. :-) I wait until the pan was hot (oil started to bubble when on medium high roughly 45deconds ish after turning on) and then seared each side of the chicken breast for ~2-3 minutes; then set chicken aside.
5. Using a standard casserole dish, I then poured any extra from the stovetop into the dish I’m going to put chicken in.
6. Once chicken is laid flat into the dish, lather the balsamic / honey sauce you made (see above for ingredient list)
7. 1-2 sliced Roma tomatoes (I used only 1 full tomato for this recipe, as I was only cooking for two people and the chicken breast’s were pretty small!) lay the sliced tomatoes over top. Lastly, cover chicken / tomato with a piece of mozzarella cheese and bake for 8-10 minutes.
8. Take chicken out when temp is 160f add more of the “sauce”if you have extra … (feel free to make up a little more if it seems too dry). Lastly, and 1/4 cup basil sprinkled over all pieces of chicken. FYI: (I didn’t make any more sauce that what I have listed above. It was plenty, and by the time you add cheese avocados and tomatoes it was very flavorful… a dish I will absolutely be making again!)
9. Cut avocados into little pieces and drizzle a little bit more balsamic vinegar! (I.e… “little bit more” = no scientific method, just drizzled the bottle over the chicken / avocados until it looked good ;)
This meal was served with a side of black beans. Which I take out of the can, put into a casserole dish, add chopped up white onion (raw) salt and pepper as desired and bake for 10 mins… sprinkle Mexican cheese and bake another ~2-3 mins until cheese is melted. (Seriously, this is my fav way to eat black beans).
Served on the plate: beans, the chicken, and a handful of corn tortilla chips with a little salsa to dip :) See pic!
