Grilled Chicken Breast and Pasta Salad

This year we celebrated Father's Day with a day-long picnic together with many friends. Despite the great atmosphere, I still wanted to do something special for just our family. As a solution, we agreed that the next day our family would celebrate our own, more intimate Father's Day by having a nice dinner outside. We were actually quite lucky on both days because the weather turned out great, despite gloomy forecasts.

I had previously made this chicken recipe a month prior, while my parents were away on vacation. It was my first time making chicken, other than shake-and-bake, and I was quite proud of the result. I decided that upon their return I would make it again, and Father's Day seemed the perfect opportunity to do so. The first time I made it was definitely a long and tedious process, simply because I don't know how to use the grill and had to resort to our little panini maker. As you can imagine, grilling six pieces of chicken breast one at a time can be time consuming. This time, I had the benefit of someone else showing me how to grill the chicken, which sped up the process and added to the flavor.

I found the original recipe for the chicken here and changed it slightly to better suit my family's tastes. The recipe also featured a great pineapple salsa, which I made but unfortunately forgot to take a picture of, and a pasta salad. Again, I altered each recipe a little but I like the overall concept of pairing the three things together to make a lovely summer meal. The salsa, especially, went extremely well with the chicken and left everyone singing my praises.

Grilled Chicken Breast

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme leaves
• 1 tsp dill weed
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp hot sauce

1. Combine all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Toss the chicken in the marinade, one at a time, making sure to coat well.
3. Place the chicken breasts side by side in a large dish and pour excess marinade over top. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours, preferably over night.
4. Preheat the grill over high heat for 5 minutes and then reduce to medium. Grill the chicken breasts for about 7-8 minutes on each side, or until there is no more pink.

Red Pepper and Tomato Pineapple Salsa

• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 20 oz can pineapple tidbits, drained
• 1 1/2 tsp hot sauce
• Salt to taste

Combine all of the ingredients together and mix well. Tip: if you want the salsa to be sweeter rather than spicy, add only one teaspoon of hot sauce and add some of the pineapple juice from the tidbits.

Pasta Salad

• 1 lb fusilli pasta
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 pint grape tomatoes (one small container should be plenty)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the pasta through, about 10-12 minutes.
2. Rinse under cold water until pasta has cooled.
3. Slice the tomatoes into halves and add to pasta.
4. Add cilantro, lemon juice, and olive oil. Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper.