ArcaMax

On my only trip to Italy I learned an important lesson. When it comes to food, it’s not how creative you can be but how authentic.

While we traveled around, I kept looking for the Italian restaurants that would serve what I referred to as “modern Italian”. I wanted crazy, creative Italian food and I thought I was in the mecca of Italian creativity, so I should find it easily.

Not so much.

What I found were traditional dishes. And what I learned is the Italians rate the food on how authentic it tastes. If the sauce tastes like the one their grandmother made, then it’s proper Italian food. The different restaurants brag about their sauces and the history behind them. When you listen to Italians talk about their food they are talking about how to master a decades old recipe; not inventing a new one.

I did finally find what I was looking for in one restaurant in Milan...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

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Italian Lemon Chicken
Grilled Tuna with an Asian Flair

Marinated Chicken With Chunky, Fresh Tomato Sauce

This is a ZReduction and Zola to Go! recipe. It’s colorful, it’s low cal and it’s very tasty.

Servings: Serves 2, can be multiplied.

Ingredients:

¼ cup of apple cider vinegar
Juice of one large lemon
2 chicken breast halves. Pound them down to a third-inch thickness The easy way to do this is to put them in a plastic bag and then pound with your meat mallot or in a pinch I pound them down with a can of something from the cupboard. Some grocery stores are offering scaloppini-style sliced chicken breast in the cooler. Check for them. That will work too.
½ tsp of Italian spice blend (or to taste)
Olive oil spray
1 clove of garlic minced (I use my rasp to mince it)
2 small, or one large tomato chopped (you want at least one cup of chopped bits)
3-4 basil leaves cut to a fine shred
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

On a large plate with a rim or in a container, pour the apple cider vinegar and lemon over the sliced chicken. Toss the pieces around to make sure they are all coated. Let stand in marinade for 10 minutes. Don’t marinate longer or the chicken will begin to “cook” in the acid marinade – similar to how ceviche “cooks”.

Spray a large sauté pan or grill pan with just a bit of olive oil. Add chicken. Sprinkle on the Italian spices and grate a bit of salt and pepper on the chicken. Cook on medium high until one side is just slightly browned. Turn temp to medium and cook the other side the same way, and until there is no longer any pink in the chicken. For thin slices this won’t take more than 6 or 7 minutes. If you choose to leave your breasts full-size, you will need to cook them longer or you might choose to finish them in the oven so they stay moister.

While the chicken is cooking you can take your chopped tomato and put it in a bowl. Add the garlic and the basil shreds. Toss and season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Serving Suggestions:

TO SERVE WARM:

Put the hot chicken on your plate and mound the cold, chunk tomato sauce on top.

FOR COLD SERVICE:

Store the chicken and sauce separately until packing for your picnic, pot luck, or until you are ready to serve. For packing, put the chicken in your travel container and then add the tomato mixture on top. If serving cold at home, just put the chicken on a platter or plate and display the chunky sauce on top. It’s colorful, it’s low cal and it’s very tasty.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola