Sesame-Crusted Chicken Paillards with Seaweed Salad

Name: Sesame-Crusted Chicken Paillards with Seaweed Salad
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned); 2 tablespoons sugar; 1 dried red chile pepper; 1/4 cup soy sauce; 3/4 ounce dried cut wakame seaweed; 2 small Asian cucumbers, peeled and halved lengthwise; 1 tablespoon kosher salt; 4 red radishes, trimmed and cut into fine strips; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro; 2 scallions (green and white parts), thinly sliced; 1/2 cup sesame seeds; 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 8 ounces each), washed and patted dry and trimmed of fat; 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil; Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper

By Andrew Schloss and David Joachim

May 5, 2011

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Sesame-Crusted Chicken Paillards with Seaweed SaladAlison Miksch

Most folks overcook grilled chicken breast, but it's not really their fault. The cut is too lean to stand up to lengthy cooking and too thick to cook through quickly—paillard to the rescue. A paillard (which means "ribald" or "bawdy" in French) is a boneless slice of meat pounded thin enough and wide enough to practically cover the surface of a large dinner plate. Because they are so thin, paillards grill through in seconds, so they are one of the quickest grilled meals one can imagine. They also look striking, flopping across a plate like an edible doily. In this recipe the lightness of the paillards is reinforced by a spare seaweed and cucumber salad with a Japanese-style vinaigrette.

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