Monday, March 8, 2010

Chicken with Artichoke and Mushrooms


It's no secret that too many people eat their dinners while driving through an intersection in between picking the kids up from school and dropping them off at the practice of the day.  Never before have children had more appointments then their parents, or been more stressed, or been more malnutritioned, as in obesity not starving. 

In today's soceity we generally spend more on food than ever before and we have more food in our house than generations past, and yet we don't eat it, and that which we do it comes in plastic wrappers and tubes and all sorts of odd things that really doesn't resemble food at all.  Everyone is too tired and too burnt out to eat.  So they scarf something down in front of their computers after the kids have eaten their frozen meals and gone to bed exhausted from their crazy schedule.

I am no different.  Yesterday while driving home from the airport after a day of travel, that is so bad I hope to never think of it again let alone write about it, as I handed my not-yet-two-year old french fries from the the front seat I thought.... this is a far cry from the day when I was pregnant and my husband and I vowed that McDonald's would never pass this child's lips.  However the thought of going home and cooking made me want to burst into tears.  We too are just too busy and too exhausted to put in the time and energy that making dinner every night requires. 

The upside of this is at least some of us are more than aware of the short coming of these dinners and want to do better.  My friend Jenn has started a recipe swap on facebook that I am really loving and hoping people will add their input so we can all share in our quick cooking tricks.

This recipe comes from our dear friends Andrew and Nadia in Canada.  Every year when we go home to visit at Christmas time, they always cook up a meal (for a large crowd), that is a) delicious, and b) tends to be smart in time management as they know that being good host and hostess means being relaxed and actually being able to oh I don't know... visit with your guest maybe?  And every year without fail I am asking for the recipe and it usually goes into our general rotation for go to dinners for family and guests alike.

You want healthy, quick, and tasty... here you  go.  Say thank you Andrew and Nadia.


Chicken with Artichoke and Mushrooms


Ingredients

3 pounds chicken breast (I halved the meat but not the sauce as my daughter who "hates mushrooms and
                                       artichokes" loved the sauce)
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
14oz. canned artichoke hearts, without oil (I think I will halve the artichokes next time too)
2 cups mushrooms, sliced (I used pre-sliced to save time but found them a little thick cut)
2 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons white wine
1/3 teaspoon rosemary
1/3 cup butter

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and paprka. Melt butter in large frying pan over medium heat. Saute chicken until lightly brown; remove with a slotted spoon to a casserole dish. Arrange artichokes between pieces of chicken.

In same frying pan, lightly saute mushrooms until all liquid evaporates. Sprinkle flour over mushroom; stir in broth, wine and rosemary. Cook, stirring, until slightly thickened. Pour over chicken and artichokes. Cover and bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through.

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