Grilled Chicken Cutlets with a Cherry Tomato Panzanella is a super easy and perfect weeknight meal. Bright and cheery with a sweet cherry tomato panzanella on top, this recipe is pure summer.
The month of August is flying by and we are still finding ourselves with pounds of tomatoes every week. To be very clear, not from our garden (I wish!!). Luckily we have a vegetable market around the corner that has the best produce and prices. My father was a tomato farmer and in Sicily and he was truly a magician with growing everything! Even though they say that in this part of Florida it is very hard to grow veggies, he did it all!
My Sicilian father is often talked about here. Even though he has passed away, he is influencing my recipes all of the time. This is a dish he would just love! Mom was over when we were thinking about what to do with chicken breasts I had just bought. I was already making panzanella and I remembered coming across an older issue of Bon Appetit where the chicken is seared with the skin on and a panzanella is served on top.
These were not chicken breasts with skin on. We also grilled the chicken instead of searing in the pan. We have a really nice grill pan that is so easy to clean up. It only took a few minutes on each side. We have been making this panzanella recipe all summer long! It’s so great with different grilled meats or tofu.
The panzanella is packed with sweet bursts of cherry tomatoes and it is topped over perfectly grilled and very tender chicken breasts. Grilled Chicken Cutlets with a Cherry Tomato Panzanella is a perfect end of summer dish to enjoy al fresco with your friends or family.
We are sharing this dish with our #freshsummer project! The month of August we are inviting you to share a tomato recipe. Read about it here on my Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce.
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Grilled Chicken Cutlets with a Cherry Tomato Panzanella
Ingredients
- PANZANELLA
- 3 cups artisan bread (or baguettcut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 pound cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 large cucumber
- 1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced basil
- CHICKEN
- 6 Raw boneless skinless chicken breasts mine were around 7.5 ounces each
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Dried oregano - about 1/8 teaspoon per chicken breast
- Cooking spray or oil of your choice high smoke point oil like avocado, coconut or even canola is best
- extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- PANZANELLA
- Slice or tear the bread into large cubes (about 1-inch). Place them on a baking sheet and leave them out to harden overnight (if the bread is not old).
- You could bake the bread in a 300 F oven until the crust is a little hardened but the inside is still soft. Made sure to move the bread around during the baking a couple of times.
- Place the bread chunks into a small bowl. Add some lukewarm water on top of the bread chunks to let it soak in and soften the bread a little while you prep the vegetables and dressing. (It could take about 1/2 cup water).
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and cucumber into bite-sized pieces.Thinly slice the red onions.
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and a few grinds of fresh pepper; whisk together.
- In a large bowl combine bread and chopped vegetables. Pour on the vinaigrette and gently stir together to combine all the flavors.
- Let the salad sit at least half an hour before serving, or up to 4 hours. Next step is to grill the chicken cutlets.
- Next step is to grill the chicken cutlets.
- CHICKEN
- Place a chicken thigh between two layers of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet, flatten the thigh to 1/4" thickness. Repeat with remaining chicken thighs.
- Season both sides of chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
- In a large stove top grill pan, spray with cooking spray (I used avocado oil spraon medium-high until shimmering.
- Working in batches to avoid crowding, add chicken thighs to the pan. Cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, allowing the one side to cook without turning and to get grill marks.
- Flip chicken and cook the second side for about 2-3 minutes. It shouldn’t take more than 6 minutes to cook and if you cut into the chicken, there should be no pink in the middle. Be sure not to overcook the chicken.
- Place each chicken thigh on a plate, drizzle on a little extra-virgin olive oil on each piece and sprinkle on a little dried oregano. Top generously with panzanella and fresh parsley leaves. Serve immediately.
