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Saturday, June 13, 2009

Chicken in white wine sauce with Sundried tomato spinach couscous and fresh mozarella

This is one of my "cleaning out the fridge", dinner in 15 minute meals. John (@windaddict) made plain couscous several days before, and I had some thawed chicken breasts in brine. Instead of eating out for the 6th time this week, I wanted to stay at home. Sorry about the pic. It was eaten quickly so um..... there's not many pics.

Chicken breasts in white wine served with sundriedtomato spin... on Twitpic


Ingredients (feeds 2, or just 1 if you're a 13 year old boy):
2 cups plain couscous
10 oz baby spinach
1-2 oz fresh mozzarella
1 teaspoon sun dried tomatoes in small slices or diced (if you get them in bulk section at Central Market, they are very very salty)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/3 cup white wine
1/3 cup of chicken broth or water
salt and pepper to taste
2 chicken breasts, brined and/or pounded flat
1 tablespoon soft creamy blue cheese (optional)
Basil, oregano, other herbs (optional)

How to:
In a large heavy skillet or pan, heat up the olive oil. Pan fry each side of chicken breasts for about 5 minutes or until each side is browned. Cover the pan each time to speed up the cooking process. Once the second side is browned, add the wine and chicken broth or water. You may want to turn down the heat at this point. Cook for another 3-4 minutes to ensure the chicken is cooked thoroughly and remove the chicken from the pan. Set the chicken aside. You might want to use the plate you're going to eat off to save dishes.

In the same hot pan, add the sun dried tomatoes at this point and let them get heated through so that the flavor meld in the chicken juices and olive oil. You can add your other optional herbs at this point. Layer the baby spinach over the top and let it wilt. Cover the pan to speed up the process. Add the couscous (can be hot or cold), and toss through the spinach and sun dried tomatoes. Once it seems to be heated thoroughly (there should still be a little bit a liquid on the bottom of the pan, if not add a bit of water or chicken broth or wine), place the chicken on top of the couscous and spread the cheese around. The blue cheese is optional. I think it tastes fantastic with couscous and chicken, but I know it isn't a crowd favorite. Cover with a lid and leave the heat on high for 15 seconds. Turn off the stove, and walk away for 3 minutes. This should allow the liquid in the pan to turn into steam and thus heat the chicken and melt the cheese thoroughly. This will also allow a little of the couscous on the bottom crust up. Plate up and serve with a white wine or pale ale. Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Dang, this sounds really good! Bookmarking for trying later...

    ReplyDelete