Table for One

While TheHub was on extended business travel I went to Sprouts and bought a ton of salad fixings and other types of produce. I had mentally decided to eat salads and whatever I had on hand to grill as an entree, nothing exciting but certainly sustenance.  Life intervened and a little (OK a lot of) chaos ensued.  At the end of the day when I would finally head home, I'd realize I had consumed tons of coffee and nothing else, so I'd stop by Chipolte or Purple Onion where I can always find a paleo salad meal to bring home and eat. (Doesn't everyone traditionally eat their meal for the day at ten or eleven p.m.?)

One morning before I left the house I was looking through the fridge and realized I had to do something with all the lovely produce I had bought but had not even touched. Cooking green beans, broccoli and asparagus was easy to do, but some of the salad items required some serious restructuring.  I chopped some of them up added some olive oil and red wine vinegar to marinate for a bit.  A bit turned into the next day (ahh life!) so I had some super marinated veggies and a well thawed chicken breast.  Dinner for one was about to begin finally.

5 campari tomatoes cut in half (easy substitute: about 12 cherry tomatoes)
2 scallions sliced
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped yellow onion
1 very small clove garlic or 1/2 regular size clove, finely minced
1/2 small yellow pepper (for color only, green or red works the same for flavor), diced
10 or so fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste (I used one shake from the salt shaker and a good twist of the pepper mill)

Mix together in a small bowl with a lid.  Cover and let sit for at least 2 hours. (Or longer covered in the refrigerator)

1 small chicken breast cut in pieces
1 small bunch kale chopped (about 5 small leaves) de-veined and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons water
1 small clove garlic or the other half of the regular sized clove
1 teaspoon olive oil (I used a non-stick ceramic pan, it might take more oil for a non-stick skillet)

raw zucchini "noodles"

Heat oil in the skillet until it is fairly hot, add the chicken and cook stirring almost constantly until no trace of pink shows on the chicken.  Remove the chicken from the pan, add the kale and garlic and wilt.  Turn the heat down and add the water. Place the chicken pieces on top of the kale, cover the pan and cook until the kale is soft and the chicken is cooked through.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the chicken and kale with a slotted spoon and place it on a bed of raw zucchini noodles or cooked spaghetti.  Top immediately with the tomato mixture.  I confess I used a slotted spoon to arrange the tomatoes on top of the chicken for the picture, but poured all the delicious juice over it right before I ate.

This was so good and such an easy meal for one.  I probably had enough of the topping for 2 but I was very glad TheHub was out of town so I didn't have to share one tiny bite of it.  For 2 servings just double the chicken and kale.  Add another couple of very small tomatoes and a couple of extra basil leaves and it should make a pretty tasty meal for 2.

As much as I loved this with the chicken and kale, I have made the tomato topping twice since and served it over sprouts and also alone over zucchini shreds.  If I had to tell you in one word what it tastes like I would have to say it tastes like summer.  This is going to become one of my go-to hot night meals.

So go dive into summer with some delicious marinated tomatoes over whatever sounds best to you!