Light Chicken with Tomatoes & Artichokes

The other night, I found myself with some chicken breasts that needed to be cooked, as well as a can of artichokes and a can of diced tomatoes. I did some googling and found a few recipes that combined those three ingredients, looked easy to make, and sounded good. I chose the recipe that was the quickest to throw together (it had been a long day at work!), made a few small changes, and came up with a new, delicious chicken dinner to add to my repertoire.

I can’t even explain how ridiculously easy this chicken was to make. You mix together a handful of ingredients (all of which I typically keep on hand), pour the mixture over the chicken breasts, and bake. And the best part was - it tasted great!

The chicken had an Italian taste to it, so I served it over a side of pasta, which was a perfect complement to the meal. I didn’t add any additional sauce, assuming that the tomato and artichoke mixture from the chicken would be enough flavor to coat the pasta. The next time I make this, I may add some additional tomato sauce to the dish, but it wasn’t really necessary. Also, I used a thin-sliced provolone cheese because that is what I had in the refrigerator, and it melted perfectly and tasted great, but I’m sure that mozzarella cheese would be really good as well.

Light Chicken with Tomatoes & Artichokes

(adapted from http://aaronandjillw.blogspot.com/2011/08/italian-chicken.html)

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1 can artichoke hearts, drained

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. flour

Salt and pepper, to taste

Thin-sliced provolone cheese

Fresh or dried basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place chicken breasts in a 9x13 baking dish, and season with salt and pepper.

3. Mix the remaining ingredients (except for the provolone cheese and basil) together in a medium-sized bowl.

4. Pour the mixture evenly over the chicken breasts.

5. Cook for approximately 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.

6. Take the chicken out of the oven and top each piece of chicken with a slice of provolone cheese. Put back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes on the top rack, until the cheese has fully melted.

7. Sprinkle with basil and serve!