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Chicken Bruschetta with Parmesan Couscous

Serves 4 people
Estimated Cooking Time: 1 hour* See note for food prep option

Chicken Marinade:

  • 4 medium chicken breasts (or two large, cut in half)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp parsley
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Bruschetta Ingredients:

  • 10 medium roma tomatoes
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1-2 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Parmesan Couscous Ingredients:

  • 1 package (about 8-9 oz) Israeli pearled couscous (can use GF couscous)
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese (omit if dairy free)
  • 1 cup fresh basil, chopped

Instructions: 

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
  2. Mix together the ingredient for the chicken marinade in a large bowl or plastic bag
  3. Place chicken in the marinade, seal the bag or cover the bowl, and place in the fridge for 25-30 minutes (up to 2 days if making ahead). 
  4. While the chicken is marinating, slice your roma tomatoes in half and place on a baking sheet
  5. Combine the olive oil, garlic, sea salt, pepper, italian seasoning, thyme, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl and pour the mixture over the tomatoes
  6. Mix everything together with your hands to make sure the tomatoes are all coated with the oil mixture
  7. Bake for 30 minutes
  8. While the tomatoes are baking, heat a pot over medium heat 
  9. Once heated, add the butter to melt, and once melted, add the couscous. Stir for about a minute or two to coat the couscous in the butter and toast it
  10. Add the chicken broth and lemon juice, stir to combine and bring to a boil
  11. Once boiling, stir the couscous, and bring it down to a simmer. It’ll look really soupy.
  12. Let the couscous simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the couscous has absorbed the liquid.
  13. While it’s simmering, preheat a cast iron skillet or your grill over medium/high heat
  14. Once heated, add the chicken and cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees (depending on the grill and your thickness of chicken, this could be 15-25 minutes).
  15. When the tomatoes are done, take out of the oven, and transfer the tomatoes to a cutting board
  16. Roughly chop the tomatoes up and set aside. 
  17. Once the couscous has absorbed the liquid, add the parmesan and fresh basil. Stir to combine
  18. To serve, spoon the couscous on a plate, top with the grilled chicken, and add the bruschetta on top. We paired with a side salad, but fresh green beans or asparagus would be great too!

*Note for meal prep: You can prep the bruschetta and the chicken marinade ahead to cut down your cooking time to 30 minutes or less by the time you’re ready to make dinner. I roasted the tomatoes on Sunday and put in a food container in the fridge and let my chicken marinade for a couple of days. When dinner time came around, I heated up the tomatoes in the microwave, and then chopped them up after they were warmed up.

I made this recipe last summer when we were overflowing with tomatoes and I still love it. This one is definitely more involved than some of my other recipes that I’ve shared so far, but I promise it’s totally worth it, and will become a new favorite (I know it has in our household). 

My husband and I started a little backyard garden the summer before last, and after learning some lessons about gardening (like I have a brown thumb, and it’s really better for Alex to take care of it), we went into this year thinking we knew what we were doing. Low and behold, we’re still learning, but the tomato crop grew out of control last year. We came home from our three week belated honeymoon trip to Cyprus and Greece to BUCKETS of fresh tomatoes, specifically cherry and roma tomatoes. So in the spirit of trying to use them before they went bad, I decided bruschetta was something easy to make that would use up a decent amount of the roma tomatoes, and Alex was all too eager to agree.

Let me tell ya, fresh bruschetta placed over a lemon garlic marinated chicken and coupled with parmesan and basil couscous, how could you go wrong? The flavors are light and summery, and after adding a bright vegetable or salad, you have a pretty and balanced meal that everyone will enjoy! I definitely recommend using freshly grated parmesan and fresh basil for the couscous because the flavor is just that much better. And honestly, who doesn’t love freshly grated cheese (even if we don’t like the actual grating-part)?!

The chicken marinade is also good with pretty much everything and you’ll find that I’ll use it fairly regularly. 🙂

I hope you enjoy, and please let me know if you’ve given it a try by leaving a comment!

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