Lunch on the patio - first day of Spring

Warm weather, barbecue - what could be better?

I saw a recipe for two in the Char-Broil's Everybody Grills! book: 

Grilled Chicken Skewers with Grilled Caesar Salad.
 

With a few changes, here are the recipes:

2 - 4oz boneless skinless chicken breasts (we had enough chicken for the next day)

1 cup BBQ sauce of your choice

2 whole heads of romaine lettuce (we used one)

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (used less)

1/2 cup shallot, minced (used less)

1/2 cup fresh garlic, minced (used less)

salt and pepper

Bamboo skewers soaked in white wine for 1 hour (didn't use)

1 prepared log herbed polenta (made our own, recipe follows)

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1 jar of your favorite Caesar salad dressing

Cut the chicken breasts lengthwise into four equal slices. Place chicken in a plastic bag with the BBQ sauce; seal and marinate for 1-2 hours or overnight. 

Cut the romaine heads in half lengthwise. Drizzle olive oil over both sides. Spread the shallot, garlic, salt pepper over the cut side of the heads, set aside.

Preheat grill to high. Place chicken on skewers (or not) and grill until the meat reaches 165º. Slice the polenta into slices, grill 5 - 8 minutes on each side.

To make the balsamic reduction, place vinegar in a pan over medium heat and cook until it reduces in syrup. Cool and reserve.

Grill the romaine lettuce on both sides for 2-3 minutes until just wilted. Remove, slice lengthwise, then roughly chop.

Toss lettuce very lightly with Caesar dressing. Place salad, chicken and polenta on plates, drizzle with balsamic reduction. YUM!

We had the same meal today, sitting outside again, enjoying the weather after a walk over the Lake Hodges Bridge.

For the polenta I used this recipe Grilled Herb Polenta step 1 - 4, putting the polenta in the fridge, since I didn't plan this until Saturday morning.