Rosemary and Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, in bone without skin *

14 asparagus spears **

1 lemon, cut into 5 rinds

2 4-inch Rosemary springs

2 T. olive oil

3 T. butter

1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock

salt and pepper

* I never had chicken in bone, so I just used 3 medium sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts

** I didn't have any asparagus on hand, so we just went without (SO sad. I love asparagus!)

Recipe: (it's kind of unclear so I added what I think should be done)

1. In a small pan, melt the butter in the boil with the rosemary and lemon. *

2. Over low heat, cook the seasoned chicken breasts for about 50 minutes (until done), covered. **

3. Turn a few times, to cook well on both sides.

4. You may need to add a few pours of stock, only if necessary, to create a bit of a sauce for the chicken to cook in. ***

5. After the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan onto a plate and cover with foil. Let it rest.

6. Cook the asparagus in the leftover sauce.

7. Serve.

* I poured the olive oil into a pie plate and added salt and pepper to it. I then rolled the chicken in it until it was completely covered in the oil, salt, and pepper.

** I added the chicken stock to the rosemary and lemons and stirred that all together. Then I added the chicken. I brought the whole things to a boil and then turned it down and let it simmer until the chicken was cooked through, about 25-30 minutes.

*** I took the chicken, rosemary, and lemons out, and then added about a 1/2 c. milk and 1 T. flour to the stock left in the pan until it boiled for a few minutes to make a thicker and slightly more creamy sauce to put on the chicken. If I had the asparagus, I would have done this after I had cooked the asparagus.

Rating: 3 of 5

This one is okay. Not great. I think it would be a lot better if you just juiced the lemon instead of slicing it into rinds. The rind-y taste was too strong for my liking. The sauce turned out great and was really good over rice. Easy recipe, short ingredients list, and almost so delicious. Next time.

Source: shopcookmake.blogspot.com, Rosemary and Lemon Chicken

Garlic Chicken with Artichokes

No picture! Sorry!

Ingredients:

12 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 T. olive oil or cooking oil

1 8-9 oz. package frozen artichoke hearts

1 red sweet pepper, cut into strips

1/2 c. chicken broth

1 T. quick-cooking tapioca

2 t. dried rosemary, crushed

1 t. finely shredded lemon peel

1/2 t. black pepper

1 1/2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or thighs

4 c. hot cooked brown rice

Recipe:

1. In a small skillet cook garlic and onion in hot oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until tender. In a 4-qt crockery cooker combine the garlic mixture, frozen artichoke hearts, sweet pepper, chicken broth, tapioca, rosemary, lemon peel, and black pepper. Add chicken; spoon some of the garlic mixture over chicken.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6-7 hours or 3-3.5 hours on high. Serve with rice.

Rating: 3 of 5

This isn't a terrible recipe at all. I liked it, but I felt there was a certain something missing. Like....it needed more spice or something. Somewhat of a bland dish. Super easy though. I love crockpot meals. This recipe does make the chicken super tender, so I ended up kind of shredding it as a pulled in out of the crockpot. I would probably make this again.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens, p. 239

Braised Balsamic Chicken

No, this food has not been eaten yet. Just cut up a little.

Ingredients: **I halved the recipe**

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

ground black pepper to taste

1 t. garlic salt

2 T. olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced *

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

1 t. dried basil

1 t. oregano

1 t. rosemary

1/2 t. dried thyme

*The usual dried chopped onion substitute.

***TIP: Italian Seasoning usually is a combination of the above ingredients. The type of Italian Seasoning I buy has just oregano and thyme. This might save you a trip to the store!***

Recipe:

1. Season chicken breasts with ground black pepper and garlic salt. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet and brown the onion and seasoned chicken breasts.

2. Pour tomatoes and balsamic vinegar over chicken and add basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 15 minutes.

3. Serve on rice or pasta.

Rating: 3 of 5

This was a pretty good recipe. We ate the chicken on spaghetti noodles. The chicken turned out pretty tender, but we aren't a huge strong balsamic-taste fans. That being said, I liked enough to make it again some day. I honestly don't think seasoning the chicken does a thing since I couldn't taste the pepper or the garlic salt, but whatever!

Source: AllRecipes: Dinner Tonight, pg. 131

Tuscan Lamb Chop Skillet

Ingredients:

8 lamb rib chops, cut 1 in thick

2 t. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 19-oz white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 8-oz can Italian style stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 T. balsamic vinegar

2 t. snipped fresh rosemary

Recipe:

1. Trim fat from chops. In a large skillet cook chops in hot oil over medium heat for 9 to 11 minutes for medium, turning once. Transfer chops to a plate; keep warm.

2. Stir garlic into drippings in skillet. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in beans, undrained tomatoes, vinegar, and snipped rosemary. bring to boiling; reduce heat. simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Spoon bean mixture onto 4 dinner plates. arrange 2 chops on each plate. If desired, garnish with rosemary sprigs.

4. Serve with Italian bread and some mixed greens.

Rating: 1.5 of 5

Maybe we aren't lamb people. The bean mixture was okay, but we didn't like the meat. Maybe that's also because it didn't have any kind of seasoning that went into cooking it. But we do like gyros. I dunno. Most definitely won't be making this one again. Sorry, Better Homes and Gardens!

Source: Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book, pg. 354