Brined Chicken Breasts with Baked Tomatoes & Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

The last time we visited my family, my dad made this chicken, and it was so good that I wrote down the recipe to bring back with us. This brine is so simple and infuses a lot of flavor into the chicken.  It can be challenging to make grilled chicken taste really good without a sauce, but this is one grilled chicken recipe that is so good that no sauce is necessary!

The baked tomatoes are also something that my dad introduced us to.  We did not follow any specific recipe for these ones, but were inspired by how we recalled that my dad usually makes them.  They are a really good side dish with  grilled chicken, and can easily be made dairy free by omitting the parmesan cheese.

My husband loves potatoes, and I wanted to try something new that was also dairy free so that our son, Charlie, could eat them.  These roasted garlic mashed potatoes were so flavorful, we didn't miss the butter and milk at all. The chicken stock and roasted garlic added plenty of richness without any of the  dairy (or fat!).

Brined Chicken Breasts with Baked Tomatoes & Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Serves 4

Brined Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

1 pound organic free-range chicken breasts

2 cups water

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 Tbsp kosher salt

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a gallon-sized sealable bag.  Place in the refrigerator to brine for 7 hours.

2. Preheat grill.  Cook chicken breasts for 5 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove from grill and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Baked Tomatoes

Ingredients

2 large tomatoes
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Combine bread crumbs, cheese, salt, and pepper in small bowl.

3. Remove steams from tomatoes and cut tomatoes in half.  Place tomatoes in baking pan, flesh side up.  Top with bread crumb mixture and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

5 organic white potatoes
2 1/2 cups organic chicken stock
1 head fresh garlic

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

2. Wrap whole head of garlic in aluminum foil and bake for one hour.

3. Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add potatoes and chicken stock to a small pot and bring to a boil.  Boil for 15 minutes, or until tender (can be pierced with a fork and won't break apart). Drain the potatoes, reserving the stock.

4. Add 2 or 3 roasted garlic cloves to the potatoes. Mash potatoes with a potato masher, and add reserved stock as you mash until you achieve desired consistency.  For creamier potatoes, use a hand mixer.  Save the remainder of the head of roasted garlic for other recipes in the next several days (ie. soups, the spread on bread, etc).

(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)

What are the nutritional benefits of this meal? Chicken is an excellent source of protein and is rich in B vitamins. Tomatoes are an excellent source of lycopene and vitamin C. Potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of potassium. Garlic contains flavonoids (a type of antioxidant), and is a great source of vitamins C and B6, and the mineral manganese.