Fridge Clean-Out = Awesome Meal!

If there's one thing I hate, it's wasting food.  We were out of town this weekend, so I had limited fresh food on hand, plus it felt like it was about a billion degrees in the house, so I knew I had to make dinner outside on the grill!  After searching the fridge, I came out with: a lemon, some garlic, about 2 handfuls of baby spinach, a handful of arugula, 3 red peppers and some frozen chicken breasts.... oh! and some expired Greek Yogurt(don't worry, not moldy or bad)!  I would have to say, I made one of our best bbq dinners EVER!  What I whipped up were delicious grilled chicken breasts with roasted red peppers and served on spinach salad with my super easy to make balsamic vinagrette and topped with feta!

Here's how:

Grilled Chicken with Yogurt Herb Marinade:
4 chicken breasts (preferably defrosted - if not, defrost in ziplock bag in cold water bath)
1 cup Greek yogurt
juice of 1/2 large lemon
handful of assorted herbs, whatever you have, finely chopped - I had thyme, oregano, basil, Italian parsley, chives and rosemary
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste - don't be shy

Mix all of the ingredients (minus chicken) in a bowl, and add to ziplock bag and squish around on your chicken breasts.  Ideally, this would marinate for a couple of hours, but I marinated for only 30mins and it still tenderized the chicken nicely.

Wash 2-4 red peppers - don't cut into them.

Heat up your grill nice and hot, about 400degrees - chuck those peppers on and get them charred all the way around - this might take about 10mins.  Once they are black on the outside, grab them off the grill and put inside a plastic bag and seal tight so the skin with sweat off.  Once they are cool enough to handle, peel or wipe off the blackened skin, seed the peppers and slice lenthwise.  I like to drizzle some olive oil and add some sea salt too.

Ok - now it's time to get to grilling - depending on your organizational skills at the BBQ, you could also be doing the chicken breasts at the same time as the peppers!  On a hot oiled or non-stick grill, put the chicken breasts on and grill so you get the nice lines on both sides, and chicken is cooked thru, juices run clear - about 15-20mins depending on the thickness of the CB's.  After you take them off the grill, let them rest on a plate and tent with foil for about 5 minutes.

My best ever and so easy balsamic vinagrette - just remember this ratio: 1:1:1:1

1tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tsp good quality Dijon mustard (I used to be all about the Maille, but now I have to say that the President's Choice brand is the BEST)
1 finely minced garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste

In a glass or metal mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients.  Reserve about half of the dressing for drizzling later.... This recipe makes enough for a salad pour deux, but you can easily increase it by increasing the ratios (easy, 2 tbsp balsamic, 2 tbsp EVOO, 2tsp Dijon, 2 cloves garlic, etc....) You can decrease the garlic if you want, depending on your tolerance/love of it!

Putting it all together!!!  By now, the chicken breasts are off the grill and resting under a foil tent.  The red peppers have been roasted, seeded and sliced.  The lettuce for the salad has been washed (dealers choice: spinach, arugula, mixed greens, whatever you like and have on hand), and the balsamic dressing has been made!  You're ready!!  Toss the salad in the mixing bowl with the remaining dressing and about 1/3 of the sliced red pepper.  Transfer salad to plates.  Top with sliced grilled chicken, extra red pepper and drizzle the reserved balsamic vinagrette.  If you're feeling funky, add some crumbled feta.

VOILA a delicious salad (and it even fits into the paleo lifestyle!)