Honey-Grilled Chicken Breasts with Corn and Black Bean Salad

This was the perfect summer dinner. The flavorful grilled chicken with a delicious, cool and colorful salad really hit the spot!

The Honey-Grilled Chicken recipe also happened to offer a great way to showcase some of my favorite Pampered Chef kitchen tools too.

To begin, I prepared the marinade for the chicken. I cut the recipe for the marinade in half since only two of us would be dining at home tonight and the recipe makes enough for 8 chicken breasts.

First, I used my Microplane Grater to quickly and perfectly grate the fresh ginger.

Then I grabbed my juicer with a convenient built-in strainer AND a pour spout to juice a lime.

Next, I dropped clove after clove of garlic into my garlic press. This garlic press is awesome! One little squeeze and you've got fresh garlic without the hassle of mincing or chopping.

See?

It even comes with this handy little tool for quick and easy removal of any garlic debris left in the press.

Best of all, so you don't misplace the little tool, it conveniently fits right into the handle of the press for storage.

Once the ingredients are prepped, add them to a bowl with honey, soy sauce, orange juice, salt, and pepper.

Then whisk it all together. I totally love my sturdy little Pampered Chef whisk for jobs like this.

The pour spout on my small batter bowl made for an easy and clean transfer of the marinade to the plastic zip-top baggie filled with chicken breast. If you choose to make the marinade ahead, the batter bowl comes with a tightly fitted lid to cover the bowl before refrigerating.

Seal the plastic bag and marinate the chicken for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Because it was just my 3 year old and I dining in tonight, I didn't want to bother with firing up the grill. Instead, I heated up my Grill Pan and added the chicken.

Then I topped the chicken with my pre-heated Grill Press. This is a great tool not only for making paninis, but it's excellent for applying even heat to both sides of the meat. Last weekend one of my friends raved that her husband loves this tool for preparing hamburgers on the grill.

Please ignore all of the oil splatters in the picture. I added a little too much oil to the pan before adding the chicken and it splattered EVERYWHERE!

The chicken turned out beautifully! Very tasty! But I will say that it tasted more like Teriyaki Chicken than Honey Chicken. Even so, it was yummy! I'd used this recipe in place of store-bought teriyaki marinade again for sure!

The salad is a great "make ahead" dish and it came together in a snap. You just dump all of the ingredients into a bowl: corn, black beans, tomato, onion, cilantro, and garlic.

Then add all of the dressing ingredients to a jar that has a lid: sugar, vinegar, oil, lime juice, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Put on the lid and shake until combined.

Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine. Then cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. This salad just gets better with time, as the ingredients marinate in the dressing and the flavors mix n' mingle.

Confession: I doubled the dressing recipe. I tasted it after one application and the salad seemed a bit dry to me. After a second batch of the dressing, it was just right! Albeit not quite as healthy....

This dish would be the perfect addition to your 4th of July cookout. You could even serve it with tortilla chips as a salsa.

Enjoy!

I adapted both of these recipes from the June/July 2008 issue of Healthy Cooking.

Honey-Grilled Chicken Breasts original recipe found HERE

8 ServingsPrep: 15 min. + marinating Grill: 10 min.

Ingredients
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh gingerroot
12 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)

Directions

•In a small bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Pour 1/2 cup
marinade into a large resealable plastic bag; add chicken. Seal bag
and turn to coat; refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Cover and
refrigerate remaining marinade.

•Drain and discard marinade. Using long-handled tongs, moisten a paper
towel with cooking oil and lightly coat the grill rack. Grill,
covered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 5-7
minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170°,
basting frequently with reserved marinade. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 chicken breast half equals 221 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 94 mg cholesterol, 331 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 35 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 5 lean meat, 1/2 starch.

Corn and Black Bean Salad original recipe found HERE.

8 ServingsPrep: 15 min. + chilling

Ingredients
1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, minced

DRESSING:
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1-1/2 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

•In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a small bowl,
whisk the dressing ingredients; pour over corn mixture and toss to
coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Stir before
serving. Serve with a slotted spoon. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 2/3 cup equals 142 calories, 4 g fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 326 mg sodium, 21 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 4 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 fat.

* I doubled the dressing recipe.

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