Dinner with Tyler: Grilled Chicken Breast with Ginger and Soy, Cold Sesame Noodles & Sweet Chili Cucumbers

Since I made two Tyler recipes last week and combined them into one dinner, I did myself one better and made three of his recipes this week. I started off by noticing the recipe for Grilled Chicken Breast with Ginger and Soy on the Food Network site.  While trying to decide what to serve with it, I noticed that it was part of a menu for a How to Boil Water episode along with Cold Sesame Noodles and Sweet Chili Cucumbers. Since the noodles have gotten great feedback from the Tyler Florence Fridays members who have tried them and I love me some marinated cucumbers, I decided to make the whole dinner as my TFF pick for this week. I made a few changes of course, including reducing the salt and oil in just about everything (Bad Tyler!), and using buckwheat soba noodles and almond butter in the noodle dish. A great make-ahead meal for a hot summer night as you can marinate the chicken, make the cucumbers, boil the noodles, put it all the fridge and then just pull it out when you are ready to make dinner. You simply grill the chicken, blend the sauce for the noodles, add the finishing touches and it's ready to serve.

I am just posting the entree recipe for the Grilled Chicken Breast with Ginger and Soy here. You can find the link to it and also the links to the recipes for the Cold Sesame Noodles and Sweet Chili Cucumbers here.

Grilled Chicken Breast with Ginger and Soy

Tyler Florence

(Makes 4 Servings)

 

2 cups soy sauce
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup dark sesame oil
1 lime, juiced
4 inches fresh ginger, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

Combine the 1 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, half of the lime juice, ginger, and garlic, and 1/4 cup cilantro in the bottom of each of 2 large freezer bags. Put 2 chicken breasts in each bag and get them coated with the marinade. Then set the bags on a work surface, force the air out and seal them. Allow chicken to marinade for 1 hour. You can also freeze the chicken right in the marinade at this point. To do so fold each bag over the chicken 3 times, tape them well, and date them. Put it in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Place a large grill pan on 2 burners over medium-high heat, or preheat an outdoor gas or charcoal grill. Fold a few paper towels into a thick square. Blot some oil on the paper towels and then carefully and quickly wipe the ridges of the gill pan or the hot grates of the grill to make a non-stick surface.

Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade and season with salt and pepper. Lay the chicken on the hot grill and cook 3 to 5 minutes on each side until charred and firm. Serve with the sesame noodles and cucumber pickles.


Notes/Results: An easy and delicious dinner and perfect for the warm, muggy evening we had. For dinner I served the whole chicken breast warm over the noodles with the cucumbers on the top and the sides. For lunch the next day I had the cold chicken sliced over the noodles and cucumbers and enjoyed it even more as both the noodles and the cucumbers have more flavor on day two. 

Chicken: The chicken is very flavorful and tender. I think having reduced the amount of salt I use overall, that I may be a bit "salt sensitive." Even though I used a reduced-sodium soy sauce, reduced the amount by about half and didn't salt the chicken after removing it from the marinade (yikes Tyler!), for my first few bites I thought it might still be too salty for me but I ended up liking it as I ate more. I reduced the amount of olive oil too, using about half the amount the recipe called for and increased the lime juice a bit, using a whole lime for the half recipe of chicken. 

Noodles: Yum! I can see why these have been a popular choice at TFF, they are creamy and good. I did reduce the oil and soy sauce slightly and upped the chili paste and rice vinegar. I used buckwheat soba noodles for the base and freshly ground almond butter. I find I really like the flavor of almond butter in dishes like these--still nutty but more subtle than peanut butter, plus I almost always have it around my house. I will be making these again.

Cucumbers: Crispy, cold, slightly sweet and with a kick from the chilies, these are a perfect refreshing little side dish with lots of flavor. 

All together a great dinner and wonderful lunch the next day!

You can see what recipes the other Tyler Florence Friday participants made this week and find out how they turned out by going to the TFF site here.