Рецепт Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken & Red Pepper Panini
Are you a fan of the show, Chopped on Food Network where each chef is given a basket filled with ingredients to make a dish in a limited amount of time? Well, Sargento® is hosting a “Chopped at Home” contest. To inspire you to enter, they asked me to come up with a Chopped-style recipe using:
First thing I wanted to do with the chicken breast was grill them. Then I started thinking about all my friends in the Boston area whose grills are stuck under huge piles of snow. So I thought to bring the recipe indoors and cook the chicken and peppers on counter top grills. But how to make grilled chicken special? First, I marinated it in Greek yogurt flavored with a bottled balsamic vinaigrette. Super simple and so very delicious! Plus, there’s o need to measure a bunch of different ingredients when you have a favorite balsamic salad dressing already in the refrigerator.
Then I thought, there’s nothing more comforting during a cold winter day then a grilled cheese sandwich. So I combined the marinated grilled chicken and red pepper with a grilled cheese and got a Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken & Red Pepper Panini. The tart flavor of the Greek yogurt and the sweet flavors of the balsamic vinaigrette and grilled red pepper meshed perfectly with the Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Fontina, Romano, and Asiago cheeses found in the Sargento Chef Blends Shredded 6 Cheese Italian.
Sargento’s “Chopped at Home” contest
I hope you’re inspired by my own “Chopped” recipe by coming up with a recipe using Sargento Chef Blends Shredded 6 Cheese Italian so you can enter the Chopped at Home contest where you could win $10,000, an appearance of Food Network plus a trip to the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival. Learn more about the contest and enter your recipe here.
Prepping the chicken
Depending on where you buy your chicken breasts, half a breast may be perfect for one Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken & Red Pepper Panini. However, I found that the ones I bought at my grocery store were HUGE and three were more than enough since I was able to trim down two of the larger ones to use on the forth panini sandwich.
You’ll want to flatten and tenderize the chicken breasts with a meat tenderizer tool, so the chicken absorbs the marinate better and cooks more evenly. I highly recommend using a blade meat tenderizer tool. I have a Jaccard Supertendermatic 48-Blade Tenderizer and highly recommend that you buy yourself one, too.
You’ll want to marinate the chicken first thing in the morning for dinner that night, so plan accordingly!
Cooking the chicken and toasting the panini
I cooked my Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken & Red Pepper Panini on a 4-serving George Foreman grill, which is now one of my favorite kitchen appliances. The one I just bought is perfect for making two panini at a time. Plus, it’s so much cheaper than a real panini press and much easier to use than a stove top grill pan. And yes, the fat does collect in the little tray at the bottom, which is a nice feature when grilling chicken. Plus, you can remove the grill plates and wash them in the dishwasher, which is very convenient. However, you can make your Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken & Red Pepper Panini on the stove top in a grill pan or a non-stick skillet.
Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken & Red Pepper Panini
Ingredients
- 3-4 half chicken breasts (enough to make 4 sandwiches)
- 1 cup low fat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
- 1 large red pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 8 strips
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 8 slices bread (whole wheat or gluten free)
- 2 cups Sargento Chef Blends Shredded 6 Cheese Italian divided (1/2 cup per panini)
- For marinade and chicken:
Directions
Combine the Greek yogurt and balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.
Place the chicken on a cutting board. Vigorously tenderize both sides of the chicken with a blade meat tenderizer tool until the meat is as flat and even as you can get it.
Place chicken in a large zip lock plastic baggie. Pour in marinate. Push out extra air and seal.
Place baggie on a tray or large plate (in case of accidental leaks) in the refrigerator up to 12 hours before grilling.
To grill chicken and peppers:
Heat grill and coat with cooking spray.
Remove chicken from baggie and throw out marinade.
Place half the pepper strips and one of the chicken half breasts on the countertop grill and close. Cook until the chicken is completely cooked through – cooking time will depend on how hot your countertop grill gets. Note that peppers take longer to cook than chicken. Peppers should have nice grill marks and be soft when fully cooked.) Keep cooked chicken warm in oven.
Add another half breast to the grill and repeat process. Remove cooked peppers from countertop grill and place in oven to keep warm.
Repeat process until all chicken and peppers have been cooked.
To grill paninis:
Wipe down countertop grill with paper towels and coat with cooking spray.
Remove cooked chicken and red peppers from oven.
To assemble panini, spray outside of bread with cooking spray. Then lay bread flat and sprinkle 1/4 cup of Sargento Chef Blends Shredded 6 Cheese Italian on one slice of bread. Layer chicken, 2 pepper strips, 1/4 cup of Sargento Chef Blends Shredded 6 Cheese Italian, and the second layer of bread.
Carefully lay panini down on the hot surface of your grill. (Depending on size of your countertop grill, you may want to do two panini at a time.) Press lid down firmly and apply gentle pressure. Cook until the bread is golden brown. (Cooking time will depend on how hot your countertop grill gets.)
Remove from grill and place on cutting board. Cut panini on a diagonal with a serrated knife and serve immediately.
Prep Time: 12 Hours
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 12 Hours 20 Minutes
Available in 30 versatile varieties, unique blends and distinct cuts, Sargento Shredded Cheese is always cut from blocks of 100% real, natural cheese. For more inspiration, check out the Sargento Pinterest page or visit Sargento.com for more information. The Chopped at Home Challenge gives viewers a chance to create their best recipe using the selected basket ingredients, including Sargento Shredded Cheese, for a chance to win $10,000!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sargento®. The opinions and text are all mine.