Tuscan Lemon Chicken and Grilled Panzanella

The husband got home today from his business trip so I planned a nice dinner for the family.  After seeing a few great menu ideas on my friends blog last week I knew exactly what to make.  Tuscan Lemon Chicken and Grilled Panzanella, both Ina Garten recipes, and both very highly rated on the Food Network's website.  Not surprising since most of the Barefoot Contessa's foods get rave reviews.

I highly recommend giving both these dishes a shot.  I also highly recommend you let the chicken sit in the marinade for a solid 24 hours.  The flavor is amazing!  In addition, using a flattened chicken may look pretty cool (and a butcher will do for free at your grocer), but it would be much easier to use an already cut up chicken. Makes serving much faster and less messy.  If you do opt for pieces of chicken instead of a whole flattened chicken, I'd opt for bone-in with skin on so the marinade has some extra stuff to soak in to versus using boneless skinless breasts.  But... the flattened chicken is an attention getter so give it a shot.

Regarding the panzanella (basically veggies and bread salad with dressing), the flavor has a kick and both my kids ended up eating a few pieces.  The recipe calls for a ficelle, which is basically a really skinny baguette.  The ficelle I bought wasn't as skinny as I hoped, so I had to slice the loaf lengthwise and then slice as directed in recipe.  Otherwise the bread pieces would have been much too large.  My friend Michele also likes to add crumbled feta to the salad

Much to my surprise, the panzanella kept well and I was able to eat some of the leftovers for lunch today. And the leftover chicken's flavor tasted even better the second day. This is a must try for your next nice family meal or dinner with friends.

Flattened chicken ready for seasoning.

Sitting in the marinade and covered with plastic wrap.  I flipped the chicken 2-3 times over the 24 hour marinating time. 

I placed the chicken on our grill and used the pan to help press it down.  Its better to use a heavy brick wrapped in foil though.  The veggies were put on the grill with about 10-15 minutes remaining on the chicken. 

Chicken ready for eating!  It looks a little beat up due to the skin tearing, but tasted fantastic.

The finished panzanella salad served warm.