Cuisine for Two

My mom sent me this great cooking magazine the other day, Cuisine for Two. Inside you’ll find delicious, quick, healthy recipes that make perfect portions for just the two of you. The magazine’s mantra is basically that low-fat, low-carb diets are so yesterday. Now, eating healthy means eating right and choosing foods that your body naturally craves – like whole grains, good fats and fresh ingredients. (Also known as the Mediterranean Diet, these are the foods I was brought up on.) Needless to say, last night Joe and I embarked on our mission to prepare some of these kickin recipes.

Since we almost always have chicken breasts on hand in the freezer (Costco has an affordable package of hormone-free chickies) we decided to make the Marinated Chicken with Roasted Potatoes. It’s always very difficult for me to follow a recipe EXACTLY the way it’s outlined in a book, so like I did last night, I tend to put my own spin on things. Here's what we did:

After seasoning the chicken with the standard garlic salt and pepper, I seared the meat in about 2 tbs. of extra virgin olive oil on the stove. Say about 5 minutes on the first side and 3 on the other. Then Joe added some parmesan cheese to both sides and let it get crunchy in the oil – the cheese made like a crust on the outside.

Then we added some quartered Campari tomatoes (the small, sweet ones that taste like they came right out of your garden) and rosemary to the pan and threw the whole thing in the oven for about 20 minutes at 450 degrees.

In the meantime, we were slicing baby red-skinned potatoes in half and drizzling extra virgin olive oil over the top. We also added some minced garlic and fresh ground pepper and coarse salt to bring out the natural flavor of the vegetable. Right along side of the chicken, we also popped the pan of potatoes in the oven for the same 20 minutes.

When everything came out of the oven it smelled fabulous! The parmesan crust on the chicken was brown while the meat remained tender and juicy inside. The flavor of the tomatoes was really enhanced through the heating process in the oven. The potatoes also got brown on the outside, those little guys were extra tasty.

We served the whole thing with a salad of freh greens and simple oil and vinegar. You must try this one. It’s so easy and quick, and best of all, it’s good for you!