From Sunset Magazine-Feb 2009-Photo: Iain Bagwell-Styling: Dan Becker

Sometimes I know we can get in a chicken dinner rut, but here’s a new one for the repertoire. I love the mix of flavors in this dish and the boys love it because it has dried apricots in it. So it’s sweet and flavorful. Typically, I serve this dish with a side of broccoli or lemon green beans. I hope you like it as much as we do.

Of course this meal comes from a Sunset magazine publication (Best Recipes 2010). Truly it’s because of Sunset that I know how to cook (ok, my GBF should get some credit too). But if it weren’t for Sunset’s great pictures, I would never try anything new. I’m totally serious about that. Below is the recipe that was originally featured in Sunset, February 2009. The link is available if want to see the original. My comments are in [brackets].

This meal can serve 4 and takes 30 minutes to cook so it’s great for weeknight dinners and excellent for leftovers.

Chicken with Tomatoes, Apricots & Chickpeas

4 boned, skinned chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds total)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 ½ ground coriander
¼ tsp cayenne
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots [I eyeball this, so it’s probably more]
1 Tbsp sugar
3 garlic cloves [also eyeballed, so it’s likely more]
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas drained and rinsed [a.k.a. garbanzo beans]
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Sprinkle chicken all over with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, then add cumin, coriander and cayenne; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. [I know that sounds weird. I’ve also just put all those spices in a ramekin then sprinkled it on top of the chicken while it cooks. I’m sure there is some purpose to ‘browning’ the spices, but I’m not that fancy.] Add chicken and cook until golden brown on underside, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook until brown on the other side, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

2. Stir in tomatoes, apricots, sugar and garlic. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and return chicken to pan. Cook, covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. [Typically I spoon the sauce over the chicken while it finishes cooking.] Stir in chickpeas and parsley, and cook until heated through.

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Asparagus with Orange and Basil Sauce [with Chicken]

Note: Delicate asparagus is gently scented with orange zest and basil (mint would also be nice). A sprinkling [or more] of subtle Asiago cheese allows each ingredient to shine equally.

¾ pound pencil-thin asparagus [or whatever your grocer sells banded with a rubberband]

1 garlic clove, finely chopped [or more]

Grated zest of 1 large orange [and the juice inside, you don’t want it to go to waste!]

¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Freshly ground pepper

½ cup fresh basil leaves, cut into strips

¼ cup freshly grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

1. Bend asparagus gently to snap off the tough ends (they break naturally at the right point); discard ends. Cut spears into 1 ½-inch lengths.  Set aside.
2. Combine garlic, orange zest, [juice from orange that you just zested], butter, salt and pepper in pasta serving bowl.  Set aside to warm to room temperature or, preferably place the bowl (be sure it’s heat proof) over the pasta pot to warm the ingredients and melt the butter while heating the water.  Once the water comes to a boil, remove bowl and set aside. [First of all, I only salt and pepper after the fact and to taste.  Secondly, I’ve only set my bowls on top of the boiling water once and it may be why it cracked.  Not recommended.  Use your brain because evidently I didn’t.]
3. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted [or not] water until almost al dente.  As asparagus and cook until tender, but still bright green, about 1-2 minutes [if it’s thicker than a pencil do 3 minutes].  Drain pasta and asparagus well and immediately add to sauce in bowl.  Sprinkle with basil and Asiago cheese and toss.  Serve at once with [lots of] extra Asiago cheese.
4. [ I use frozen chicken breast strips to add protein to this meal.  Simply place frozen strips on plate in microwave and defrost.  Pour in along with Step #3 above and toss.]

Serves 2 to 4.  Recommended Pasta: 8 ounces bowties (farfalle).  [or whatever kind of “meaty” pasta you have in your cupboard.  I don't recommend spaghetti or linguine type noodles.]

Serve with wine (of course) and enjoy!

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Rosemary-Fig Chicken with Port

From my favorite recent cookbook purchase, Cooking Light’s Fresh Food Fast (2009)

My comments are in [brackets]

½ tsp salt

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp pepper

4 (6 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Butter-flavored cooking spray [Pam works]

2/3 cup fig preserves [only 1 jar in all the massive jelly selection at my grocery store, but SO worth it…find it!]

1 Tbs minced fresh rosemary

6 Tbs port or other sweet red wine

1. Sprinkle first 3 ingredients evenly over chicken.  Coat chicken with cooking spray.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned.  [While that’s cooking] Combine fig preserves, rosemary, and wine in a bowl; add to chicken, stirring gently.  Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 6 minutes [it ended up being about 15 minutes for my fat breasts…lol].  Uncover and cook 1 minute over medium-high heat or until sauce is slightly thick.  Serve sauce over chicken.  Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast and 3 Tbs sauce).

I served this with a spinach salad topped with goat cheese (OMG I can’t get enough of it) and cranberries and a cous cous/harvest grain blend in a bag from Trader Joes.  If you’re not that fancy then Rice-A-Roni works well too (god knows we use it a lot too!).  So good!  Add to repertoire, especially for guests.

Enjoy and cheers!

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From Cooking Light, Nov. 2003

I’m in a comfort food binge.  I think fall does it to me every time.  Here is a great recipe that I found for Green Chile-Chicken Casserole online.  It’s so good you’ll want to make it in a big casserole dish so you can have left overs.  This easily fed 3 adults and 4 kids (had a friend & her kids over) with a small take home for our guest.  Yes, even the kids loved it!

This is my favorite kind of recipe – throw in a bunch of ingredients into pan and mix.  Then throw in a bit more into casserole pan (or crock pot) then let bake for 30 minutes and viola!  Easy, breezy and Yum! Yum!

Green Chile-Chicken Casserole

From Cooking Light, November 2003

My notes are in [brackets]

1 1/3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 cup canned chopped green chilies, drained

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup fat-free sour cream

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 (10 ½-oz.) cans condensed 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1 garlic clove [I end up using more than one clove, for sure]

Cooking spray

24 (6-inch) corn tortillas [I ended up not using that many, but whatever]

4 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound) [I use the grilled chopped frozen variety that I defrost in the microwave before putting in casserole]

2 cups (8 oz.) finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese [I like the Mexican blend]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the first 9 ingredients (though the garlic) in a large saucepan, stirring with a whisk.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly [well close enough].  Remove from heat.

Spread 1 cup soup mixture in a 13×9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Arrange 6 [whatever covers the pan] tortillas over the soup mixture, and top with 1 cup chicken and ½ cup [read: handful of] cheese.  Repeat layers, ending with the cheese.  Spread remaining soup mixture over cheese.  [Sprinkle a bit more cheese on top.]  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Cheers, friends!  I hope you enjoy!

P.S.  Mine always turns out a bit soupier than the picture.  I think the picture looks too dry.  Maybe that’s because they really do use 24 tortillas!

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1) easy

2) tasty

3) kids like it too

4) so very little prep & clean up

Here’s a good recipe from The New Creative Crock Pot Cookbook (2001) by Robin Taylor Swatt (oh thank you Sharon, my MIL, for getting me hooked on slow cooking).  Prep took about 10 minutes.  Throw it in the pot and stir occasionally.  Oh, so easy.

1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts (in my case 2 breasts)

1-14 oz can of tomatoes, drained and diced

1-14 oz can of artichoke hearts in water, drained

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced

1 cup nonfat chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine (drink another 2 glasses for yourself)

3 Tbs quick cooking tapioca

2 tsp curry powder

1 Tbs fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 tsp dried sweet basil

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

½ tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in the Crock Pot slow cooker. Mix thoroughly. Cover; cook on Low 6-8 hours or on High for 3½-4 hours.  Makes 6 servings; 4 grams of fat per serving.

I served this dish on brown rice with a side of green beans (which were frozen and I simply put in the microwave for 4 minutes).  Also I only cooked the meal in the crock pot for 3 hours and it was just fine and yummy, delicious.

Cheers, friends!

P.S. I’d like to thank The Sister Project for the image that I lifted.  LOVE your site!

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