Lemon & Olive Chicken

I've had this recipe kicking around for a while, ripped from the pages of one of my favorite magazines, Real Simple (which I like even more than Martha these days shhh!!) I had all the ingredients on hand, so I threw it together in a hot minute tonight.

All you need: chicken, green olives, shallots, wine, and seasonings. I had a bottle of wine that Yoga Jen brought to my Recession Recipes party a while back, plus some olives left over from that party. I always have shallots on hand, and I just picked up a bag of frozen chicken from Trader Joe's (such a deal at 6.99 a bag!). While I thawed the chicken, I mixed together the seasonings (cumin, salt, pepper, lemon zest). Zesting always gives me an excuse to trot out one of my favorite kitchen tools: my microplane!!!

Did you notice the little pieces of chicken? Those are the segments of rib meat that come attached to the breast. I snapped those off and left off the breading--Mitzi and Ollie enjoyed their own little chicken snacks tonight, too (sans wine, olive, etc). Once you've browned the chicken pieces, you remove them (and I got to use another new tool--I finally got TONGS at Williams-Sonoma this weekend...ALSO on sale!) and sauté the shallots, add the olives, wine & lemon juice, and bring to a boil. Let me tell you: this smells AWESOME! Then you bring back the chicken and let it simmer for a few minutes to cook through all the way. You're supposed to cover it for a few minutes--this is where some drama happened. I picked up my lid for the pot, and the handle came off, sending the heavy glass lid down to the ground, shattering one of my favorite bowls (which I'd put down as a water dish for the cats). This made me very, very, very, very, exceedingly sad. :( I actually let my head hang for a moment..but then I had to get back to cooking. Can't let the shallots burn!)

I let everything simmer for about 4 minutes on low to medium heat, then served myself up a plate. It was just me tonight for dinner, so I have extra tomorrow for lunch! And I'm so glad I do! The chicken was tender and flavorful, the lemon and the wine give it a tart glaze that's just a touch sweet, and the olives lend a natural saltiness. It has acid, it has sweetness, it has a major yum factor. I highly recommend it. Try it and you, too, will probably be adding this to your rotating recipe file!