Chicken Breasts and Olive Tapenadewith sauteed asparagus
Flavorful tapenade and melted cheese turn simple chicken breasts into a very special weeknight dinner. Serve it up with asparagus before it's no longer in season. (Pescetarians - the vegetarian option uses cauliflower but you can also use fish. I'd skip the cheese in that case.)
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Ingredients
Simple Sauteed Asparagus:
- Asparagus - 1 bunch, ends snapped off
- Cooking oil - 2 tsp
- Lemon - 1/2, juice of
- Parmesan (optional) - 2 Tbsp, grated
Chicken Breasts with Tapenade:
- Chicken breasts - 1 1/2 lbs
- Homemade olive tapenade - 1/2 cup
- Cooking oil - 2 Tbsp
- Fontina cheese - 4 to 6 slices ((Swiss or mozzarella would also work))
- Thyme - 4 sprigs
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 serving
Servings Per Recipe 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories460
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% Daily Value
Total Fat30g46%
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Saturated Fat9g45%
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Trans Fat0g
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Cholesterol133mg44%
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Sodium988mg41%
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Total Carbohydrate7g2%
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Dietary Fiber4g15%
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Sugars3g
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Protein43g
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Prep
- Chicken - Slice in half to make the breasts thinner. Season with salt and pepper and tenderize with a fork. (Can be done up to 1 day ahead)
- Tapenade - You should have made this for yesterday's meal. If you didn't, you can grab the directions here.
- Asparagus - Snap off ends (this is a great kid activity!). (Can be done up to 4 days ahead and then "planted" in water and covered with a plastic bag, just like these herbs)
Make
- Preheat oven to 375F (191C) degrees.
- Preheat a skillet over high heat. Add cooking oil, and then add chicken to heated oil. Sear on both sides for 3 minutes.
- Layer cheese onto chicken and then divide and slather olive tapenade on top of cheese. Add any remaining sprigs of thyme. Cover with foil and then bake for 4 to 7 minutes or until chicken reaches 165F (74C) degrees.
- While chicken is cooking, heat a saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and then asparagus to heated oil with some salt. Saute for 5 to 8 minutes (depends on thickness of spears), until softened but crunchy. Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Season to taste with salt & pepper. If using parmesan, add it on while asparagus is hot, so it melts some.
- Enjoy the chicken warm with crunchy sauteed asparagus!
Reviews
This meal has 7 reviews
Healthy and tasty.
Tasty and easy meal! The olive tapenade was delicious
Had low expectations as we didn't care much for yesterday's meal, but LOVED the tapenade on chicken and cheese! This meal was very quick to make and easy to time it so everything came out piping hot.
This and the Tuna Orzo were way too salty for my personal taste...might be the brand of olives I bought?
Very easy, and so delicious!;)
Easy and quick. Will make this again!