June 6: Warm Tangerine and Gilled Chicken Salad served on Grilled Garlic Crisps

   Zest and juice of 2 tangerines
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
6 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets
1 pint red grape tomatoes, halved
1 pint yellow grape tomatoes, halved
1 fennel bulb, quartered, cored, and thinly sliced (chop and reserve a handful of fronds)
12 kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
12 large green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 large white or whole-wheat pitas
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat a grill pan or outdoor grill over high heat.

In a shallow dish, combine the juice of 1 tangerine, the rosemary, 2 of the chopped garlic cloves, the parsley, 2 tablespoons of the EVOO, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken cutlets and marinate for 5 minutes.

Place the tomatoes, fennel, fennel fronds, olives, and scallions in a large bowl; add the juice of the remaining tangerine and all of the tangerine zest. Season the salad with salt and pepper and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of the EVOO, then stir to combine. The salt will start drawing the liquids from the tomatoes and that will become part of the dressing.

Separate the 2 pita breads into 4 round disks. Combine the remaining garlic with the remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO. Brush both sides of the pitas with the garlic oil and season with a little salt and pepper.

Place on the grill and cook until well marked on the first side, flip, and then sprinkle with a little Parmesan. Cook until the second side is well marked. Remove the pita from the grill and reserve.

Place the chicken cutlets on the grill and cook on each side for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove from the grill to the cutting board. Let the meat rest for a minute, then cut into thin strips and add to the bowl with the tomatoes and fennel. Toss to combine.

To serve, arrange the grilled garlic crisps on 4 plates. Top each crispy pita with a generous pile of the warm tangerine and grilled chicken salad.

4 SERVINGS

This meal is great for a hot night like tonight... I'm very glad I didn't have to turn my oven on. The only problem is this is not the season for tangerines. I had to buy a navel orange instead. I forgot to add the rosemary to the chicken marinade, so I ended up putting it in the garlic oil for the crisps. They turned out really good. I don't like fennel that much when it's raw, but it wasn't too bad in this. I'm looking forward to tomorrow to see if this is even better cold. I bet it is. My DH doesn't like tomatoes or fennel, so I just gave him a chicken cutlet on a crisp with some olives on top. I think he liked it. My grocery store doesn't have yellow grape tomatoes, so I only used red. And my grocery store only sells pitas that are cut in half, so we had to eat 2 garlic crisps instead of 1 big one. The only part of the recipe I changed was to put Parmesan instead of Parmigiano-Reggiano.