Tarragon Grilled Chicken Fillets over Salad

Ingredients

10 whole skinless, boneless chicken thighs
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne (or more to taste)
4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon (or 2 tsp dried)
6 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups grape or baby cherry tomatoes cut in half
10 cups mesclun or baby green salad mix
4 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon, basil or mint (we used mint)
Rustic French or Italian bread
Good mozzarella (optional)

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Tarragon Grilled Chicken Fillets over Salad

by John Spottiswood

Time: 20 minutes prep, 5 minutes cook

Servings: 6

Directions

Rinse the chicken thighs and drain but do not fully dry. Place between two pieces of plastic wrap on a cutting board and pound to about 1/3 inch with a mallet.
Put the garlic, salt, black pepper, and cayenne together in a non reactive bowl and mash into a rough paste with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the dijon mustard, tarragon, lime juice, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Whisk rapidly until the sauce thickens and the oil is no longer separated.
Place the chicken in a rimmed baking sheet or pan and spoon the sauce onto one side, then flip the chicken and spoon onto the other side. In total, you should use about 2/3 of the sauce as marinade leaving 1/3 for the salad. Make sure not to use the spoon that you use to ladle out the sauce to spread it on the chicken, since the remainder of the sauce will be used for the salad.
While the chicken is marinating for about 30 minutes, chop the remaining herbs and tomatoes and place the tomatoes, then the greens, and last the chopped herbs (tarragon, basil or mint) into a large salad bowl and pour 1/2 of the remaining dressing on top. Wait to toss until the chicken is done. When you do toss, add more needed to get your desired taste. Preheat your grill to high.
When the chicken is ready to cook, clean and oil the grill and grill the chicken for 2 1/2 minutes on each side. When I turned the chicken, I dipped it back in the marinading pan to soak up all the marinade.
Chop the chicken in 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick strips and serve the chicken strips over the salad or next to the salad as you desire. Serve with a rustic french or Italian bread. We also sliced some good mozzarella and served it with the salad. Yum!

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Summary

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2 votes | 4562 views

1 review | 1 comment

This recipe is adapted from one in Steven Raichlen's BBQ USA, which he in turn borrowed from a restaurant in SOHO, Manhattan. The flattened and then grilled chicken was absolutely delicious. Almost unbeatable. The salad was a also very tasty, though we had to add a lot of extra greens to prevent the dressing from being too heavy. I've adjusted for that in the version below. We have four kids, ages 7-16, and they all ate an amazing amount. No leftovers! I hope you'll try it.