Chicken with olives and sun-dried tomatoes; salade verte aux fines herbes

The announcement that McDonald's was delivering in the metro area struck me as appalling somehow, although I can't quite articulate why. Perhaps it's because at least before people had to make an effort to pick up that generally unhealthful food. I concede that there have long been plenty of unhealthful food options available for home delivery, so it should really make no difference. And it's not as if all food prepared at home qualifies as healthful, either. But still.

Admittedly, most lives do need some short-cut meals. This meal counts as my version of fast food -- something that lets me get passable food on the table after a weeknight stroll on a pleasant evening after FINALLY getting home despite Minneapolis' best efforts to make traversing city streets impossible. That's getting really old.

Chicken with olives and sun-dried tomatoes
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Everyday Food, April 2005

Ingredients

3 cups water

¼ cup dry-packed sun-dried tomato halves

2 tablespoons lemon zest

½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced lengthwise

1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

4 boneless chicken breast halves

Method

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add sun-dried tomatoes and lemon zest. Simmer until tomatoes have softened, about 5 minutes. Drain and pat tomatoes dry. Slice into strips. (The remaining water, strained, made a really good basis for risotto the next night.)

Combine tomatoes, zest, 1 teaspoon olive oil plus ¼ teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper.

If your chicken breasts are particularly thick, pound them down to less than an inch thick. Rub chicken breasts with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place chicken in a 9-by-13 pan. Top with tomato mixture and cover tightly with foil. At this point the chicken can be refrigerated until ready to use, up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake, covered with foil for 20 to 30 minutes or until cooked through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Rating: Fine, but not a wower, although Dave was rather fond of it. But it was a perfectly fine weeknight meal paired with a salad and red quinoa. Since I'd prepped the tomato mixture the night before, it came together quickly.




Salade verte aux fines herbes 
(which somehow sounds fancier than green salad with fresh herbs)
Adapted from "Paris Bistro Cooking" by Linda Dannenberg

Ingredients
1 small head Boston lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1 small head curly endive, broken into pieces
4 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
6 celery leaves

Method
Combine lettuce and endive in a large bowl.

Combine peanut oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk to make a vinaigrette. Just before serving, drizzle over greens. Top with herbs and toss together. Divide among 4 serving plates.

Rating: Just a simple fresh salad, which is pretty hard to beat, especially when you just stepped out to the garden to pick the herbs. Life is just a little better when you pick from your own potager. (But traffic still sucks.)