Artichoke Chicken with Roasted Potatoes

OK, so this was my first day back at work since I came down with pneumonia. The part that really sucks is I still have it. It made for a long day and I was having difficulty talking towards the end of the day.  I was worried there was no way I was going to be able to make dinner tonight.  The hubby was busy all day and also was trying to clear our storage out this afternoon so there was no way I was going to ask him to do dinner as well.  I found this recipe in a Pampered Chef cookbook 29 Minutes to Dinner on page 15.  Here's the recipe as written:

POTATOES AND CHICKEN

3 small red potatoes
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) water
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4-6 oz/125-175 g each)
2 tsp (10 mL) Rosemary Herb Seasoning Mix, divided
2 tsp (10 mL) olive oil, divided

ARTICHOKE TOPPING

1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped artichoke hearts (about 2 hearts)
2 tsp (10 mL) chopped fresh parsley
1 oz (30 g) Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tsp (10 mL) mayonnaise

1. Preheat broiler on HIGH. Meanwhile, cut potatoes into quarters. Place potatoes, water and salt into Small Micro-Cooker; microwave on HIGH 6-8 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, for artichoke topping, chop artichokes and parsley using Santoku Knife; place into Small Batter Bowl. Grate cheese using Microplane Adjustable Grater. Set aside 2 tbsp (30 mL) for later use; add remaining cheese and mayonnaise to artichoke mixture and mix well.

3. Flatten chicken to 1/2 in. (1 cm) thickness using flat side of Meat Tenderizer. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with 1 tsp (5 mL) of the seasoning mix.

4. Add 1 tsp (5 mL) of the oil to Stainless (10-in./25-cm) Skillet (do not use nonstick cookware); heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Meanwhile, add remaining 1 tsp (5 mL) of the oil and remaining 1 tsp (5 mL) of the seasoning mix to potatoes; stir to coat.

5. Place chicken and potatoes, cut side down, into Skillet. Cook 3-4 minutes or until chicken is golden brown. Turn chicken and potatoes over; cook an additional 3-4 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and centers are no longer pink.

6. Remove potatoes from Skillet; set aside and keep warm. To finish chicken, spread artichoke topping evenly over chicken; sprinkle with reserved cheese. Place Skillet as close as possible to heating element (2 in./5 cm); broil 4-6 minutes or until topping is deep golden brown and internal temperature of chicken registers 170 F (77 C). (Watch closely. If topping starts to brown unevenly, adjust accordingly.) Carefully remove Skillet from broiler. Serve chicken with potatoes.

Yield: 2 servings

Nutrients per serving: Calories 320, Total Fat 14 g, Saturated Fat 4 g, Cholesterol 80 mg, Carbohydrate 21 g, Protein 34 g, Sodium 1280 mg, Fiber 3 g

So here were my changes: I omitted the potatoes outright and served with pasta salad instead. I do not have their rosemary herb seasoning so I used a sprinkle of rosemary, salt and pepper. I did not used fresh parmesan...I used shaky cheese :D.  OMG, this was SO YUMMY!!  I am definitely going to make this again! It was easy, delicious and most of the ingredients you probably already have on hand.  Speaking of which, I still haven't mastered the buying for two so I have a half can of artichoke hearts and one extra chicken breast that I cubed and cooked up for something later. I'll see if there's a recipe out there that I can try in the next few days with some of that.  Anyway, this was a winner and my only complaint was the broiler heated up the house too much...this is Florida and it was a bit too warm in the kitchen. My last suggestion is to use fresh chicken.  I have been using giant bags of frozen chicken breasts for years and was so used to it tasting like sheets of cardboard, I forgot what real chicken tastes like.  A big bonus of cooking for two is I don't NEED to buy the big bag...I can just buy what I need.


*****