Valentine’s Day Dinner – Balsamic Chicken & Tomato Hearts

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Celebrate Heart Health Month this February by making this easy, yet festive, chicken dinner. A chicken breast sautéed in Mazola® Corn Oil is served with diced grape tomatoes with a sprinkling of feta cheese and fresh basil, all flavored with a balsamic vinegar glaze arranged on a plate to look like a heart. To keep this better-for-you Valentine’s Day meal heart-healthy, use Mazola® Corn Oil. It’s an all-purpose, cholesterol-free cooking oil that is a smart choice for your family. A clinical study showed Mazola Corn Oil reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil and it’s a great oil to use to pan sear or grill chicken breasts. See Mazola.com for more information on the relationship between corn oil and heart health.​

This meal is beautiful in its simplicity. A sliced chicken breast is plated next to diced tomatoes in the shape of a heart.

Add a sprinkling of feta cheese and fresh basil then drizzle on a balsamic vinegar glaze to transform an ordinary everyday dinner into a special holiday meal.

I love that you can make such a nutritious meal look so visually stunning.

I wanted this meal to be quick and easy to make so I simply seasoned my chicken breasts with some salt and pepper, heated the Mazola Corn Oil in a pan, then sautéd the chicken for a few minutes on each side until it reached an internal temperature of 165° Fahrenheit.

You can if you prefer, grill your chicken breasts by tossing them with a tablespoon of Mazola Corn Oil and cooking them on a preheated 400-degree grill.

If you have a little more time and you want a bigger punch of flavor you can even create a marinade using the Mazola Corn Oil, balsamic vinegar, and seasonings like garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

How to sauté chicken breasts:

• Season two 5-6 ounce boneless and skinless chicken breasts with salt and pepper then set aside for 10 minutes.
  • The salt will help to tenderize the chicken breasts.
• Pat the chicken breasts dry using paper towels.
• Set a medium stainless steel skillet on your stovetop.
• Pour 1 1/2 tablespoons of Mazola Corn Oil into the pan and turn the heat onto medium-high.
• Allow the oil to heat until it begins to shimmer.
• Place the chicken breasts into the pan and heat for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked to an internal temperature of 165° Fahrenheit.
• Remove the chicken breasts from the skillet, set on a cutting board, tent with tin foil, and let rest for 5 minutes.

What kind of oil do you use when sauteing chicken? I’ve recently switched to using corn oil after learning the information below.

Benefits of Mazola Corn Oil:

• Mazola Corn Oil has more cholesterol-blocking plant sterols than other cooking oils. To learn more about these claims, visit Mazola.com.
  • It has four times more than olive oil and one and a half times more than canola oil.
  • Clinical studies indicate that plant sterols can help reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the gut.
• Mazola has a high smoke point of 450°F.
  • Did you know that if you heat oil past the smoke point that it not only negatively affects the food’s flavor it also affects the food’s nutritional value?
• The American Heart Association recently issued a new presidential advisory on dietary fats and cardiovascular disease (CVD) that strongly advised replacing saturated fat, like that found in coconut oil, with polyunsaturated fat, like corn oil, to reduce the risk of CVD by 30 percent. To learn more about these claims, visit Mazola.com.
  • The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans no longer emphasize a “low-fat” diet, but rather choosing quality, “good” fats.
  • This includes replacing saturated fats that are known to contribute to heart disease with unsaturated fats, especially polyunsaturated fats, like those in Mazola Corn Oil.
  • And, according to the USDA, corn oil has more than five times the amount of polyunsaturated fats compared to olive oil.
• Reducing saturated fats and cholesterol in your meals is as easy as using Mazola Corn Oil instead of butter.

Assemble the chicken and tomato hearts:

• Slice the cooked chicken breasts crosswise in about 1-inch slices.
• Set one breast, in its original teardrop shape, onto each dinner place.
• Arrange diced grape tomatoes next to the chicken breast to form a heart shape.
• Sprinkle on some feta cheese and fresh basil.
• Drizzle on balsamic vinegar glaze.

How to make a simple balsamic glaze?

• Pour 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan.
• Set the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
• Lower the heat to medium-low and stir continuously until the balsamic vinegar reduces by half and thickens.
• It will continue to thicken off heat.
• Pour into a glass bowl and allow to cool completely.
• Then use the glaze to drizzle over your chicken and tomatoes.
• You can just drizzle on balsamic vinegar, but the glaze will cling better to the chicken and tomatoes.

I love being able to turn a simple recipe into something that looks so pretty on the plate. When this dinner is served to your sweetheart I just know that he or she will fall in love! With you and the meal.
This dinner is easy enough to make for a weeknight meal but special enough to serve for an anniversary, an engagement, or even a bridal shower.

 

Did you make this recipe and think it was great or do you have any questions? Leave a comment below and don’t forget to rate the recipe using the star rating system.

To complete your meal you might also like serving…

Appetizer Course – Mozzarella Cheese Hearts

Salad course – Valentine’s Day Salad with Tomato Hearts

Dessert course – Cranberry Orange Semifreddo Hearts

I hope you enjoy making this fun Valentine’s Day dinner.

I’d love to see pictures of your special meal. You can share in our How to Make Fun Food facebook group. It’s a great place to ask questions and learn from others.

If you love making chocolate be sure to check out my Chocolate Making Courses at The Sugar Academy.

Have a sweet day, Beth