Summer Chicken Bruschetta

Summertime always brings the promise of one of my favorite meals....bruschetta. To some people bruschetta is more of a an appetizer but I prefer it as my actual meal. Whether it be on top of a crusty Italian bread or a breaded chicken cutlet, it's a perfect summer meal to me.

To me bruschetta is perfect as is; tomatoes, basil, a little red onion and some olive oil, but this time I wanted to change it up a bit. My inspiration started by purchasing a fresh out of the oven loaf of bread from Whole Foods. It was a thick crusty Italian bread that was just screaming for me to top it off with some fresh bruschetta. Back at home I realized I had already taken some chicken cutlets out to defrost the night before so I needed to incorporate them into dinner, so I figured why not make a chicken brushetta? It was a major success and got tons of praise from my husband and I can't wait to make it again.



Summer Chicken Bruschetta
Yield: 2 Servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes     I     Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion
• 4 leaves basil
• olive oil
• 1/2 chicken
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 shredded mozzarella
• 2 tbs grated cheese
• salt & pepper

To start dice the tomatoes and red onion (you'll notice I didn't dice my red onion because I have to pick it out of my portion since I get bad heartburn from red onions). You want them all to be approximately the same size. Add in the basil leaves and approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix everything well and then set aside so all of the flavors will have the opportunity to blend together. I prefer my bruschetta to be eaten at room temperature, I think it allows the flavors to flourish and really come together.

Next heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. While the oil is heating slice the garlic cloves and add them into the pan. Allow the garlic to brown slightly and then add the chicken. Since this is chicken bruschetta the chicken has to be cut into teeny tiny pieces. I used kitchen shears to cut the chicken up which makes an otherwise tedious task much quicker and simpler. 

Add the diced chicken to the pan and cook fully. When the chicken is fully cooked drain any excess liquid if necessary and stir the chicken and garlic into the tomato bruschetta. Add in the grated cheese and mozzarella and stir all of the ingredients together. I let the chicken bruschetta sit while I sliced the bread to allow for a few more moments for the flavors to really come together. You can also add a little salt and pepper to taste at this point.

Serve the chicken bruschetta on a thick slice of Italian bread.