Cooking on my schedule (and for one) can put me in a food rut sometimes. I eat a lot of salads, eggs and sandwiches, which are all things that I’ve prepared at home, but I get out of the habit of trying new recipes. I have so many I want to try!
I’ve got to change this.
Last week I went through my recipe binder and chose two new ones to make: Chicken with Tarragon and Quick-Roasted Garlic and Toasted Israeli Couscous Salad with Mint, Cucumber and Feta .
For the couscous salad, I swapped the couscous for quinoa and added tomato, which reminded me of tabbouleh without the parsley.
To up the veggie quotient (and because I LOVE LOVE LOVE them), I added mushrooms to the chicken dish.
If you don’t like tarragon, swap it for something else…thyme maybe? But I’d say give it a shot first. Don’t be tempted to swap the heavy cream for something lower in fat; two tablespoons for the whole dish does NOT add too much fat, I promise.
This is a keeper and will surely become part of my rut repertoire!
Chicken with Tarragon and Quick-Roasted Garlic
adapted from Bon Appetit
Makes 4 servings
3 large unpeeled garlic cloves
4 small skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup low-salt chicken broth (or water)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (or 1 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
8-16 ounces mushrooms, sliced (I used 16…love mushrooms!)
- Heat skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cover and cook until browned in spots and tender when pierced, turning occasionally, 9 to 10 minutes. Transfer to work surface to cool.
- Meanwhile, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Melt butter and oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate (do not clean skillet).
- Peel garlic. Add garlic and wine to same skillet; cook until reduced by about half, mashing garlic finely with fork and scraping up browned-bits from the bottom of the pan, about 1 minute. Add broth/water and tarragon; simmer until liquid is reduced by about half, 1 to 2 minutes (this took longer for me). Add cream and simmer to sauce consistency, about 1 minute. Return chicken to skillet with any accumulated juices. Simmer to heat through, turning occasionally, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate; spoon sauce over.
- To now empty (still not cleaned) skillet add sliced mushrooms. Over medium-high heat, sauté until mushrooms release liquid and are lightly browned, about 10 minutes; season with salt and pepper and add to the chicken and sauce.
Notes – I served this with sautéed spinach for some “green”; all of the animal products that I used were organic (chicken, butter, cream)
327 calories, 13 g fat (5 g saturated), 7 g carbohydrates, 1.2 g fiber, 44 g protein
Blair Buras is a dietitian, dancer, food enthusiast, blogger and healthy recipe developer. She is also the New Orleans Saintsation director, choreographer and nutritionist.
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