Chicken Paillard with Arugula Salad and Blistered Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Breast, boneless skinless
• Montreal Chicken Seasoning (1)
• Cherry Tomatoes
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• Arugula
• 1-2 Lemons
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• Parmigiano Cheese

Chicken Recipe:

1. Pre-heat grill to 450-500*. If cooking indoors, pre-heat your pan to med-high. (2)
2. Butterfly chicken breast by cutting it in half, but not cutting all the way through. Open the chicken like a book, creating one thinner, wider piece of chicken.
3. If you have a mallet or meat pounder, put a piece of plastic wrap over the chicken, and pound it out to get it as thin as you can without the chicken falling apart. (3)
4. Lightly oil both sides, season with Montreal, and grill, ~2 minutes per side.
5. Grill lemon along side chicken. (4)

Blistered Tomatoes:

1. Pre-heat a stainless steel, cast iron, or carbon steel skillet to just a touch below high heat. (5)
2. Add oil, and when it begins to smoke add tomatoes.
3. Keep tomatoes moving in pan by shaking the skillet, allowing them to evenly cook and get dark.
4. About 30 seconds before the tomatoes are done to your liking, cut the heat, add the garlic, and season with salt and pepper. (6)
5. Keep the pan moving and shaking so the garlic doesn’t burn, and gets evenly dispersed throughout the tomatoes. Serve when garlic has turned golden brown and is cooked.

Lemon Arugula Salad:

1. Combine juice of half of one lemon, dijon, and olive oil into a large bowl. Season with salt, but omit pepper due to peppery nature of arugula’s flavor. You can also add a tiny bit of minced garlic and/or shallot if you desire.
2. Whisk the ingredients together until it is smooth and fully incorporated. Taste, and add more lemon or dijon, depending on your preference. (7)
3. Add arugula and toss to evenly distribute salad dressing, adding arugula in slow amounts until you know exactly how much you need for the dressing.
4. Grate cheese over the top, mix, and serve.

Notes:

1. I like Montreal Chicken Seasoning for this dish because it tastes good to me and is simple and easy. You can use any seasoning you’d like, even as simple as just salt and pepper.
2. I like using the Green Egg here to get a nice, natural wood fire to cook with. I like how the higher heat chars the chicken and gets those crusty bits, which I believe is best done with wood/charcoal. I’ve also done with dish on my Baking Steel Griddle before, which is similar to a stainless or cast iron pan, so it will work very well indoors too.
3. Paillard by definition is to pound out and make flat and grill. Cutting the chicken in half helps to get it thinner but this step gets it as flat as can be, and is also fun to do. You can get creative if you don’t have a mallet and use the bottom of a pan or pot, or even a rolling pin.
4. Grilled lemon provides a much different, sweeter, and less intense lemon flavor. By grilling you’re bringing out the natural sugars in the lemon, and the juice is great over the top of the salad and chicken. I’d definitely give this a shot if you’ve never done it.
5. Basically any pan except for non-stick, although I probably have done it at some point. You’re using pretty high heat here, and over time that’s not good for the non-stick pan. Plus, those other types of pans like cast iron or steel will hold their heat better once they’re hot.
6. If you cook the tomatoes for too long, they’ll begin to open up and fall apart in the pan. Some people like that but I still enjoy them whole, just blistered, so when you bite into it you still get that pop.
7. This lemon dressing is not going to be a thick vinaigrette because we are using way less olive oil than a tradition dressing. If you like that then add more oil and whisk away to emulsify, but I like a lighter dressing since you’re just coating the arugula with it anyway.

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