Marinated Grilled Chicken and Spinach Salad

Oh yes. That's some lovely grilled (I like it more on the charred side . . .) chicken!! I served this over a spinach salad and a side of sweet potato chips. If you're wondering about the color of the sweet potatoes and wondering why they aren't a reddish-orange, that's because there are two types of sweet potatoes. The orange ones are incorrectly labeled as "yams" here in the states. In fact, yams have a very dark skin and purple flesh; here it's regulation to label the yellow and less sweet-sweet potatoes as sweet potatoes, and the dark orange much sweeter sweet potatoes as yams. Get it? Yeah, it's very strange.

For the Marinade and Salad Dressing

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• juice of 1 lemon
• tsp lemon zest
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger paste
• pepper, to taste
• squeeze of spicy mustard

For the Salad

• baby spinach
• thinly sliced bell pepper & cucumbers
• reserved 2 tablespoons of the marinade to use on the salad (please don't pull a Paula Dean, reserve the dressing before you put the rest in a bag with the chicken. Ew)

For the Chips

• 1 sweet potato, sliced thin (although I wish I'd used the super thin blade)
• salt + pepper to taste

Extras

• 1 chicken breast
• additional salt + pepper as needed

As always, do all of your prep work first! I made the dressing, marinated the chicken for 3 hours, finely sliced all of the veggies using my mandolin, and watched a few episodes of Hell's Kitchen while I was waiting. I highly recommend a mandolin; they are perfect for slicing potatoes, veggies, fruits, cheese, and so much more!

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F, begin heating up your grill pan over medium heat or regular skillet if you don't have one. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place your sliced sweet potatoes on the pan, season with salt and pepper. Bake chips for 12 minutes, then flip; additional seasoning is optional, but I wanted them to have tons of flavor so I seasoned both sides. At this point they might need a little more time to crisp so you may need to flip them over and do an additional couple minutes.

While the chips are cooking, place your marinated chicken onto the grill in the 10 and 2 position (like when you're driving). First 10 o'clock, then you switch it to 2 o'clock; that is how you get those pretty grill marks.  Once the chicken has been browned on both sides remove from pan and put on a baking sheet. Cook in your already preheated oven for about 7 minutes. I used to always go by the meat thermometers, until I realized that even though my chicken is cooked it only reads as 110 degrees F (cooked is 165 F). Finally I've learned to just eyeball it, see how the juices are flowing. When in doubt cut right down the middle and check for any pinkness. Once the chicken is fully cooked, let it sit for at least 5 minutes with a foil tent over it to keep it warm. Since I already prepped all the veggies, toss the salad while you're waiting on the chicken. Use the reserved 2 tablespoons of dressing and some additional salt and pepper. Plate the salad, place the sliced chicken on top, and put the sweet potato chips alongside.

Be sure to check back for an amazing recipe featuring a pumpkin cheesecake with cinnamon infused caramel sauce! ^_^