It’s tomato season, and it’s basil season, so it’s bruschetta season!  And bruschetta chicken is a staple in our house at this time of year.  The recipe for bruschetta chicken originally came from this Taste of Home recipe.  Over the past couple years my husband and I have pared down the steps, ingredients, and prep time which also ended up lowering the fat and calories.  As we make it today, the steps are incredibly simple.  First, prepare your chicken breasts.  In this instance I butterflied a couple chicken breasts and then cooked them in a cast iron skillet with just a few drops of olive oil to keep them from sticking.  You can also grill or bake the chicken, depending on your preference.  If you don’t want to use chicken, this would work just as well with grilled tofu or even toasted bread for a traditional bruschetta dish.

Next, on to the bruschetta itself.  Chop a few of your farm fresh, super ripe, fresh off the vine tomatoes into a medium dice.  Mince about 6-10 basil leaves and add them to the tomatoes.  Mince 2-3 garlic cloves and add those.  Drizzle the mixture with some olive oil, a healthy pinch of salt, and black pepper to your taste.  Stir together and serve at room temperature over your cooked chicken.  It doesn’t get much simpler than that – adjust the basil, garlic, and salt to your personal taste.  It’s important to make this recipe in the summer when basil and tomatoes are very fresh.  In the winter the tomatoes don’t have half the flavor and the dish just ends up falling flat.