Chicken Paillard and Warm New Potato Salad

One of the most recent Food & Wine e-mails included a feature on "April Fools" dishes - recipes that are impossibly simple but really impress. With only five ingredients in each, they make for really easy meals to pull off at the last minute (say, when I'm dead tired from work and can barely fathom making it up the stairs let alone making a nice meal!).

Since the ingredients are so focused, the recipes are very easy to scale up or down, and what follows are my recipes inspired by that same focus and scalability. If you like, you can find Food & Wine's recipes here.

Chicken Paillard with Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad

(4 servings)

4 chicken breasts, brined and pounded to an even thickness (about 1/3" thick)

1 c cherry tomatoes, halved

1 c grape tomatoes, halved

2-3 oz chevre, crumbled

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

sea salt (a few very heavy pinches)

freshly ground pepper

1) Put the tomatoes in a colander over a bowl and salt liberally. Then toss and let stand (at least 15 minutes). Whisk 2 ounces of the goat cheese into the tomato juices that drain into the bowl. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and season with pepper. Crumble the remaining goat cheese and fold in.

2) Light a grill or heat up your grill pan. Brush the chicken breasts with the remaining olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Place on the grill, leave for about five minutes on the first side. Turn, and cook an additional two minutes (or until cooked through).

3) Transfer the chicken to plates and top with the tomato and goat cheese mix.

Warm New Potato Salad with Arugula

(Serves 4-6)

2 lbs new potatoes, cleaned

1/2 lb fromage d'affinois

4 handfuls arugula

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

salt

freshly ground pepper

Preheat the broiler

1) Place new potatoes in a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Salt, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, then drain.

2) Toss the arugula with olive oil, then transfer to an ovenproof dish. Halve the cooked potatoes and place in a layer on top of the arugula.

3) Break up the cheese overtop of the potatoes, season generously with salt and pepper. Pop it all under the broiler for a minute to let the cheese met. Serve!