Chicken and Potatoes

I have been on a blog hiatus for a while. Mostly because of the holidays. I didn't cook or bake much over the holidays. I figure if I baked, I would just eat it all, which wouldn't be good for my New Year's Resolutions.

Who made New Year's Resolutions this year? I did! One of mine is to continue on with my healthy eating path and lose some more weight. Again, with the holidays, I plateaued for a while. That's okay because I am back on track and am on the road to a loss.

The recipe below is one I found while looking online for healthy recipes. My husband is a meat and potatoes guy, so this was perfect! It had all the elements of a yummy dinner: Tomatoes, meat, potatoes and spicy. I couldn't believe how good this tasted considering it's healthy! I really shouldn't be surprised any more because I have been proven time and time again that eating healthy CAN taste good.

This is a recipe from Cooking Light. Can I just say how excited I am that I received not only a year subscription to Cooking Light magazine, but I also received their 2008 Cookbook! I have been having a really good time going through all the recipes and bookmarking the ones I want to make. Stay tuned for some amazing recipes through this year.

This dish takes some unusual ingredients, but if you have a well stocked pantry, you should be okay. I had to buy some of the items, but most of them I had on hand. Splurge and buy good quality pepperoncini and kalamata olives. That way, you can store them in the fridge and use them again for another dish.

I particularly liked this dish because it didn't use up many dishes. It used a baking pan for the potatoes, and also the pot it cooked in, but other than that, not much clean up!

Enjoy my first post of 2009. Here's to healthy eating this year!

Mediterranean Chicken with Potatoes
from: Cooking Light (online)

4 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
12 small red potatoes, halved (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Cooking spray
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup vertically sliced red onion
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped pepperoncini peppers
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
2 cups chopped plum tomato
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Thyme sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine 2 teaspoons garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and potatoes on a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until tender.

Heat a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add half of chicken to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until browned. Remove chicken from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken; remove from pan.

Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring wine to a boil; cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about 2 minutes). Add potatoes, chicken, broth, pepperoncini, and olives; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 2 teaspoons garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, tomato, basil, and artichokes; cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cheese. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.