Eye for a Recipe

A paillard is a cut of meat that is thinly sliced or pounded to an even thickness and then quickly cooked. This recipe from the August 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living suggests slicing boneless, skinless chicken breasts in half horizontally. I didn’t think that would work, so I pounded them flat between two pieces of plastic wrap and it worked just fine. The chicken paillards are then rubbed with oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with sage leaves before being quickly grilled or sautéed.

The chicken is served with a lovely mélange of mixed greens tossed with beans that have been blanched and sautéed with prosciutto, onion and red-wine vinegar.

This is a very quick tasty summer weeknight meal that is also a good way to use the sage, beans and lettuce from your garden.

To avoid additives and preservatives in this recipe, use red-wine vinegar that does not have sulfites added and a naturally cured ham that does not contain nitrates or nitrites.

Ingredients:

8 oz. green and/or yellow beans, sliced lengthwise on the bias

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, sliced horizontally or pounded flat

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

8 sage leaves

4 oz. dry-cured ham, finely chopped

½ slice red onion

1 tbsp red-wine vinegar

3 cups lettuce or mixed greens

Preparation:

Steam or boil beans until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Rub paillards with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Top each with 2 sage leaves. Sauté in a skillet or grill over high heat for 3 minutes. Flip paillards and top each with 2 more sage leaves. Continue cooking until they are done, about 3 more minutes. Transfer to a platter and let rest, covered loosely with foil. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the skillet over high heat and cook ham for one minute. Add red onion and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add red-wine vinegar, stir in beans. Toss with lettuce and serve over paillards. Serves 2.

From the August 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living