I'm in love--Chicken with Vegetable Sauce

Chicken with Vegetable Sauce
Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter’s Cookbook Copyright 2003

2 tablespoons flour
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds total)
1 cup finely chopped onion (1 large)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14 ½-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained I used good, organic diced tomatoes
1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and halved
1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon snipped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano I used dried
Dash black pepper
2 teaspoons drained capers or 2 tablespoons chopped, pitted ripe olives I used capers
2 cups hot cooked couscous
¼ cup sliced green onions (2)
½ teaspoon shredded lemon peel

1. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in flour to coat. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet, cook chopped onion in hot oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir in garlic; push onion mixture to the side of skillet. (You may want to remove this and then add it back after browning the chicken otherwise it's difficult to get the pan hot enough to brown the chicken without burning the onion mixture.) Add chicken. Cook about 4 minutes or until chicken is browned, turning once. Add undrained tomatoes, artichoke hearts, broth, dried oregano (if using), and pepper; stir just to combine.
3. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Remove chicken; cover and keep warm. I forgot to remove it and continued cooking the chicken with the sauce.
4. Simmer tomato mixture, uncovered, about 3 minutes or until reduced to desired consistency. Stir in capers or chopped olives and, if using, the fresh oregano. To serve, toss couscous with green onions and lemon peel. Serve chicken with couscous mixture. Spoon tomato mixture over chicken.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 366 cal, 6 g fat, 82 mg chol, 676 mg sodium, 35 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 39 g pro
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This stuff was sooooo good. I mean, the couscous I could live without. And the chicken, while I'm sure it added a richness to the sauce, it wasn't the star here. The sauce, the sauce is what I'll be dreaming about for quite some time.

I don't think I'll be revisiting couscous. I've tried it several times and while it's perfectly edible, there are plenty of other starches I'd rather spend my calories on. If I'm going to eat pasta, I'd prefer some other form of it. Whole wheat egg noodles would have been good with this, as would rice, or some good bread. I made Cheese-Garlic Biscuits with this also and I think I could have just eaten the sauce over the biscuits.

I like that this recipe has lots of vegetables but it's basically a pantry meal. I usually keep just about everything on hand to make the chicken and sauce except the artichokes . Yes, I finally broke down and bought another bottle of capers after smashing the last one I bought before I even opened it.

Another plus is that the vegetables are part of the main dish. When I serve them as sides, my husband doesn't always eat them - he might not put them on his plate at all. He's more likely to eat vegetables if they're part of the entrée itself.

Blast From The Past: Beef Kabobs With Oriental Sauce from June 2006. I have meat for those in the freezer. They'll definitely be on the menu sometime in the next few weeks.

Question of the Day: In general, do you prefer pasta or rice?