BLT Inspired Chicken Salad

It's easy, and really, REALLY tasty!

And surprisingly, I had everything on hand, even the fresh basil (I suppose you could use dried if you had to) ...

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbs (give or take) fresh basil chopped
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used almost 2 lbs, 4 fat pieces)
Additional basil for topping salad

Mix together everything and let the chicken mix and mingle for a bit in the fridge. AND if you remember, set aside 2 tbs of marinade and set aside for later ... I forgot. I had to make a small batch after the fact.

Grab some lettuce and chop it up. Add this to a large platter.

Slice or dice a tomato or two. Leave these on the cutting board. I like mine diced.

Cook up 2 slices of bacon for each chicken breast you have (I cheat, I always have the ready cooked bacon strips on hand so it's NOT a big deal for me). Chop the bacon. Set bacon next to the tomato.

Cook chicken by preferred method. For me, it's the grill. Of course. Allow to cool a little, and then cut up into bite size pieces.

Add chicken to the lettuce.

Add tomatoes to the chicken.

Top chicken with the bacon.

Drizzle the 2 tbs of reserve marinade over all. sprinkle with a little bit of extra basil.

Serve it up.

Personally, I don't think 2 tbs is going to be enough so I would probably stick with my defective plan and make a small batch up after the fact.

The chicken was GOOD and flavorful. I wouldn't recommend letting it marinade more than an hour ... somehow I think it would just overtake the tenderness of the meat.

This was REAL good and Hubby wants me to make it again. Did I already say that? It really is! I had the leftover chicken served with some more salad stuff ... yummmmm.