Grilled Chicken with Papaya Salsa

I was browsing through Shop Wise earlier to buy more of the funky soup bowls that I bough the other day . They were out of stock, sayang! Should have bought the entire lot when I had the chance. Then I saw some fresh chicken breasts on sale. Out of curiosity, I asked the chicken guy if it's possible for him to debone the chicken breasts and slice them very thinly. He gladly obliged. I was so happy that they provide this service. By doing the pounding and slicing for me, it cuts down my cooking time considerably. I don't have to pound the chicken anymore. Less mess in my kitchen. Yippee!

With my newly purchased breasts :-) I scoured the produce department for the ingredients that I need to make grilled chicken with papaya salsa which is one of hubby's fave dishes.

This dish takes a little bit of time to prepare due to the slicing and dicing but it's well worth the effort. I found this recipe from a Good Housekeeping Cookbook that I had bought years ago. I've just made some adjustments to suit our tastes. Anyway, here's my version:

For the chicken marinade, you will need:
4-5 pieces pounded chicken breasts
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup water
2 cloves chopped garlic
Patis (fish sauce)
Salt
Bunch of fresh Cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
Pinch red pepper flakes

Papaya Salsa
1 ripe solo papaya, peeled and cubed
1 Red or green bell pepper, cubed
1 cucumber, seeded and cubed
1 shallot, minced
Bunch of fresh Cilantro leaves, roughly chopped (you can put as much as you like)

For the salsa dressing:
Juice from 3 limes (you must use limes or dayap)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon patis

1. Combine all the ingredients in the marinade. Pour over chicken and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Combine the papaya, bell peppers, cucumber, shallots and cilantro. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the dressing until the sugar dissolves. Pour over the salsa and carefully mix to avoid mashing the papaya. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to mix flavors.
4. Grill chicken breasts in a griddle. Discard marinade.
5. Serve cold salsa on the side.

Hubby hates raw shallots or onions in anything so I only put one in there. You certainly can add more if you like. The dressing proportion is not set in stone, this is just a guide. Taste the dressing before pouring it over to the salsa, make sure it's not too tart, too sweet or too salty for your taste.

Variations:
1. Use turnips instead of the cucumber.
2. Use Mango salsa instead of Papaya. Just replace papaya with mangoes, cucumber with tomatoes.
3. Hate cilantro? Try using mint instead for a slightly "Vietnamese" flavor.

This dish is very flexible. You can mix and match some of the ingredients and come up with your own original version.