Showing posts with label Cast Iron Grilled Chicken with Pasta and Vegetables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cast Iron Grilled Chicken with Pasta and Vegetables. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

T@t{summer}T: Cast Iron Grilled Chicken with Lilac Ratatouille

Grilling is the theme this week over at Debbie's Tuesday at the {summer}Table feature and although my BBQ is closed during the week, last night I pulled out my Cast Iron Grill Pan and went to work.  I had no plan, no recipe or thought to what the final outcome for dinner might be other than to grill some chicken and use my Lilac Bell Pepper.  

My first step was to find out how this baby tasted as I needed to know if it was sweet like a red bell or armpit tasting like a green bell (yes, I'll admit not a fan of the green bell pepper) or somewhere in between?  


I could tell by how it felt that it had a pretty thin hull and upon cutting it open I confirmed that thought but what caught me by surprise was the white inside.  Unfortunately I must tell you that the Lilac bell pepper didn't taste like much of anything.  No sweetness but no armpit taste either so the idea of using this raw in a salad was out, it would need to be cooked and seasoned.


Next up was grilling my chicken.  I wanted the chicken to cook evenly so I sliced each boneless chicken breast in half horizontally so I could have pieces that were all the same thickness.  The uniformity of the chicken makes grilling indoors so much easier as (theoretically) all of the pieces should be done at the same time.

Into another pan went onion, garlic to sweat for a while and then I threw in the bell peppers.  I let all cook together for about 10 minutes.  I was going for a modified ratatouille so I added in some tomatoes just before I plated my dinner.

I served my Cast Iron Grilled Chicken with Cavatappi  (a corkscrew shaped pasta with ridges) that had been lightly seasoned with olive oil and a bit of Parmesan cheese, and then covered with my Lilac ratatouille and a basil chiffonade from my garden.  Chiffonade is such a fun word - sounds so pretentious for thinly sliced basil.
Cast Iron Grilled Chicken with Lilac Ratatouille

Dinner was a success all around as it was light, well seasoned and contained a multitude of textures and flavors.

One last item for today  ~ my Latte Quilt came back to me yesterday via the UPS man. This was the quilt I made for Hoffman Fabrics  for Quilt Market in Houston, TX last year.  I'll have more on a future post about where it has been and where it is going (Giveaway opportunity!).

Latte Quilt 42" x 39"

I'm linking up with Debbie at her Tuesday at the {summer}Table feature today.

Enjoy your Tuesday!
Susan