A Recipe for Me

This light meal for two is from the Better Homes and Gardens “Cooking for 2” magazine. I made it this evening and it was easy and delicious. Of course I had to add my own spin to it, so what you see here is my version.

What you’ll need:

• 2 oz. rice sticks or dried vermicelli, broken
• 3 T sherry
• 3 T soy sauce
• 1 T cornstarch
• 8 oz. skinless, boneless chick breast halvess (sub thighs if you prefer dark meat)
• 1 medium carrot, cut into thin bite-size strips or thinly sliced
• 1 C broccoli florets
• 1 small red or green sweet (bell) pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
• 2 T cashew halves or peanuts

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This recipe is from Great Plates by the best of Cooking Light magazine. It is delicious, easy to make, and a nice change of pace in the kitchen. You can use packaged crumbled feta cheese and chicken cutlets to prepare this meal even faster (keeps you from pounding the chicken breasts).

Serves 4.

What You’ll Need:

• 4 4-oz skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 C thinly sliced-onion
• 1 1/2 C fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 C golden raisins
• 2 T lemon juice
• 2 T capers
• 1/4 C (1 oz) crumbled feta cheese
• 4 thin lemon slices (optional)

What to do:

1. Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; flatten to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Combine flour and dried oregano in a shallow dish, and dredge chicken in flour mixture.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add onion to pan; saute 2 minutes. Stir in broth, raisins, and lemon juice; cook 3 minutes, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits. Return chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until chicken is done.
3. Place a chicken breast on each of 4 serving plates. Add capers to sauce in pan. Spoon 1/3 C suace over each serving; top with 1T cheese. Garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

Serve with Vermicelli with garlic and herbs.

Wine Pairing: Riondo Prosecco Veneto
From the Wine Advocate: This effusively fruity, light-bodied offering offers terrific floral notes, persistent effervescence, and a clean, delicate finish. There is not much body or weight in this crystal clean, pure, sparkling white. It is an amazing Prosecco. Score: 90

• chicken
• italian dressing
• green pepper
• red pepper
• yellow pepper
• sweet onion
• mushrooms
• chunky pineapple
• new potatoes
• zuchini
• rice
• pepper jack cheese, shredded

cut everything into skewer size chunks. marinate everything except pineapple and mushrooms in italian dressing. skewer it all up and grill it. serve over rice and pepper jack cheese.