Basic, but good

Sonoma Chicken
The Good Carb Cookbook Copyright 2001

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast I used tenders
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
3-4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices, and separated into rings
1 ½ cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup chicken broth
¼ cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Cut it crosswise into 8 equal pieces. with the cut side up, use the palm of your hand to flatten each piece to slightly less than ½-inch thickness. I cut my chicken into chunks. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken pieces with some of the rosemary, garlic powder, salt and black pepper, and set aside.
2. Coat a large nonstick skillet with the olive oil and preheat over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until nicely browned and no longer pink inside. Remove chicken from the skillet and set aside to keep warm.
3. Add the onion rings, mushrooms, and 1 tablespoon of the broth to the skillet. Cover and cook, stirring frequently, for a couple of minutes or until the onions and mushrooms start to brown and begin to soften. Add a little more broth if the skillet becomes too dry, but only enough to prevent scorching.
4. Add the remaining broth, wine and tomatoes to the skillet mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cool for about 3 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for several minutes or until about ¼ to 1/3 cup of the liquid reemains in the skillet. I added the chicken back in and cooked everything together for a while. Then I removed the chicken and veggies and reduced the liquid.
5. To serve, place some of the chicken on each of 4 serving plates. Top each serving with some of the vegetable mixture, pan juices and a sprinkling of parsley. Serve hot. I served it over brown rice.

Yield: 4 servings Per serving: 189 cal, 5 g carbs, 65 mg chol, 4.8 g fat, 1.2 g fiber, 27 g pro, 436 mg sodium, 32 mg calcium
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This is one of those dishes that I almost feel silly making, since I used to freestyle dishes like this all of the time and I know I could easily make something like this without a recipe. Nonetheless, it was very good. The sundried tomatoes could be left out if you don't have them on hand. They add a nice bit of tang but don't really blend in with the other flavors. There wasn't anything extraordinary about this dish but it was very flavorful (be sure to let the sauce reduce down quite a bit).

When it gets down to it, I could easily freestyle many of the recipes I follow but then I might miss a little nuance that I would never think of on my own.

It's grocery night! How sad is it that I'm so excited by that? Last week I did end up going back once, but I only spent $12-$13 and that was in lieu of getting takeout for Saturday night (plus a few other things). I've done good, two weeks in a row. I keep putting off a trip to Costco, which is easy to do when your annual membership is due and you know you have to drop $45 before you even make a single purchase.

A Blast From The Past: Chicken and Linguine in Creamy Tomato Sauce from October 2005. At first, I wasn't crazy about this but the leftovers were awesome. Cooking pasta straight in the sauce is dicey.

Question of the Day: If I gave you chicken and rice, what would you whip up based on what you have on hand in your kitchen, right at this very moment?