April 30, 2011 / Leslie

Weekend Cooking: Rosemary Orange Chicken

In the past I’ve subscribed to EatingWell Magazine and always enjoyed their healthy, delicious recipes. I still have all of the magazines. They’re so nicely done I didn’t want to rip out pages for the recipes I wanted to keep. One of the things I enjoy about them is their beautiful photos. Instead I keep the entire magazine and scan the recipes I use.

I was looking for some new ways to make chicken and remembered that EatingWell has a cookbook filled with some of their best creations. I borrowed a copy and found a few recipes I wanted to try. Last week I made the Rosemary Orange Chicken.

I’m going to rave about this recipe for several reasons. First, it was delicious, but also the instructions were so good I was able to make it perfect on the first try. Also, it used healthy ingredients that were readily available. The book lists the time to prepare and cook this meal as 30 minutes. It took me a little longer but I was moving slowly to make sure I got it right. I served it with a salad, steamed broccoli and a glass of Pinot Grigio.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1½ pounds)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt, divided
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
¼ cup finely chopped shallots
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ cup fresh orange juice
½ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon white wine vinegar

Preparation:

Chop shallots and mince garlic; set aside. Pound chicken breasts to ½ inch. Combine flour, ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge the chicken, shaking off excess. Heat 1½ teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until well browned and no longer pink in the center, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
Whisk the orange juice and chicken broth in a measuring cup. Add the remaining 1½ teaspoons oil to the pan. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the orange juice and chicken broth. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
Return chicken and juices to the pan. Simmer until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Stir butter, rosemary and white-wine vinegar into the sauce; add ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over the chicken.

I had a left over piece that I used the next day in a Caesar Chicken Salad. I warmed it to room temperature, sliced it up and tossed it on the salad. Delicious!

This was so good that I’m going to try another chicken creation this weekend. Either Scallion & Ginger Spiced Chicken or Lemon & Dill Chicken.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Participation is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.