Special recipe for Heart Month

In honor of American Heart Month, here is a recipe that adheres to guidelines for a heart-healthy meal and is also delicious: roasted balsamic chicken with baby tomatoes.

According to a story on the Cleveland Clinic’s website that included an interview with a preventive cardiology nutrition expert, a heart-healthy recipe should pay attention to fat and carbohydrates, use lean proteins and vegetables, plant-based fats, and limit any added sugars or sodium.

In this roasted balsamic chicken recipe from the website All Recipes, we’ve hit the high notes: it contains 38 grams of protein per serving, has 323 calories, and contains 9.1 grams of fat (just 2.8 percent of the total calories). But it gets plenty of flavor from the balsamic vinegar and Dijon mustard, two excellent alternatives to higher sodium seasonings.

Garlic and just a pinch of salt round things out, along with some veggies. Though it’s delicious as-is, it would also work well served over lettuce or alongside more veggies and basmati rice.

Ingredients
* 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, or more to taste
* 1 clove garlic, or more to taste, minced
* Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
* 4 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
* 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
* 1 lemon, zested and juiced

Directions
Mix balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, and garlic together in an oven-safe baking dish; season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken breasts in the vinegar mixture.

Marinate chicken in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roast chicken in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Add tomatoes to the baking dish and continue cooking until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 10 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

Sprinkle lemon zest and drizzle lemon juice over the chicken before serving.