Week 8: Chicken Breasts with Tomato-Basil Sauce

This is another quick and easy recipe. The girls liked the flavor, but didn't like the chunks of tomato in the sauce. Someday they'll expand their horizons!

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt and freshly ground balck pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup chicken broth

16 grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

Preparation

Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour and shake off any excess.

Combine the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, place the chicken in the pan and cook, turning once, for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add the shallot and garlic to the hot pan. Saute for 1 minute, then add the vinegar to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom. Add the chicken broth and tomatoes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until reduced by half. Remove the pan from the heat. Stirring constantly, add the basil, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the butter is incorporated into the sauce.

Place a chicken breast on each plate and pour the sauce over. Serve at once.

I made one substitute to this...I couldn't find a shallot at the grocery store (user error on my part...I didn't know what it was until I got home and looked it up). So I used 1/8 of a red onion minced instead. It took me about 20 minutes to prepare this and serve it with a salad and mashed potatoes, as recommended by the chef in the cookbook.