Tender chicken coated with French herbes de Provence and served over a bed of baby spinach salad is a simple and fast dish. Here's the trick to keeping boneless skinless chicken breasts juicy and tender: Saute the breasts until they are about three-quarters done, and then cover the pan and set it aside to let the breasts finish cooking in their own heat. Always check doneness using a thermometer. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Herbes de Provence is a mixture of dried herbs grown in the South of France. The assortment usually contains marjoram, rosemary, sage, summer savory, thyme and lavender. It can be found in some supermarkets. If you can't find it, substitute equal amounts of dried sage and thyme for this recipe.
Herbes de Provence Chicken
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons herbes de Provence
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper
Remove visible fat from chicken breasts and rub with herbes de Provence, making sure to coat both sides. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute 4 minutes. Turn and saute 4 minutes. Remove from heat, cover with a lid and let sit 10 minutes. A meat thermometer should read 165 degrees.
Slice chicken into strips and arrange on salad. Spoon pan juices over chicken.
Makes 2 servings.
Spinach, Roasted Pepper and Chickpea Salad
6 cups washed, ready-to eat baby spinach
1/2 cup drained, sliced roasted red pepper
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed
4 tablespoons favorite vinaigrette
Divide spinach leaves between 2 dinner plates. Add the roasted red pepper slices and chickpeas to the spinach. Drizzle with dressing.
Makes 2 servings.
Food on 10/11/2017