Most of my best recipes are born because I'm standing in my kitchen trying to figure out what the heck to make the day before grocery day. Which is exactly what happened here. I had chicken breast in the freezer, a can of artichoke hearts on the shelf, and a box of whole wheat couscous in the cupboard. I also had part of a carton of heavy whipping cream.
I love that I can start with that and come up with a meal that not only tastes good but falls well within the dietary restrictions I am hobbled by!
So, ingredients. The aforementioned chicken, artichoke hearts, and heavy whipping cream. I also used some onion, some oregano, some lemon-pepper seasoning, some white wine, and some Dijon mustard (wouldn't be Dijon cream sauce without that, after all). It wasn't until after I took this picture that I realized I'd want to serve it over the couscous, so it's not here.
First thing was to heat some extra-virgin olive oil in my big nonstick skillet. I sprinkled both sides of the chicken with lemon-pepper seasoning, and cooked it for a few minutes on each side until it was nice and brown.
I'm going to segue here for a second. My entire life, there are certain spices I've always bought at the dollar store. Lemon-pepper is first on that list, because it seems silly to me to pay more than a dollar for what is essentially salt with a hint of lemon and pepper.
I was wrong. So very, very wrong. If you follow my Facebook page, you know a while back I had a grinder from Olde Thompson Inc. break. I contacted them by email, and within a week they sent me not only a replacement for that grinder, but two of them. And two of another grinder I wanted to try. Plus five more bottles of seasoning! One of those was lemon-pepper.
That was the first time I'd ever tasted lemon-pepper seasoning *not* from the dollar store. I thought my taste buds were going to leap right off of my tongue dancing for joy! There is very little salty taste to it, the lemon flavour has depth, and there is enough pepper to give it a little bite. I am a convert!
Anyway. Lemon-pepper seasoning is now one of my favourites, where it used to be something I used because I couldn't think of anything else. And it's all thanks to the amazing folks at Olde Thompson Inc.!
While the chicken was cooking, I drained the artichoke hearts and halved them lengthwise. I always buy the medium size, but if you have the small you may not need to chop them at all. Likewise, if you buy the large you'll probably have to quarter them. I also chopped a small onion so it would be ready to go.
Once the chicken was nicely browned, I moved it to a plate, then loosely covered it with foil to keep it warm. The plate just sat on a back burner of my stove, but you could always put it in a warm oven if it'll make you feel better since it's not cooked yet, just browned on the outside.
There was enough oil left in the pan I didn't need to add any, so I just tossed the onions in there and cooked them a couple of minutes, stirring frequently, until they were starting to get translucent. They look browned in this picture, but that's more the drippings left from cooking the chicken than actual browning of the onions.
Then I reduced the heat and added the artichoke hearts, stirring pretty frequently, just a couple of minutes to get them heated through. They don't require cooking since they came out of a can, but I also wanted to make sure any of the liquid I missed when draining them was gone. I always force the water out by pressing down with the lid of the can, but there's always a little bit left. At this point I also added some oregano and some more lemon-pepper seasoning. Fresh oregano would be excellent instead of dried, but it's mid-winter.
This was actually two steps, but they're so close together it was silly to take two pictures. I added the wine to the pan and stirred to mix it well, then moved everything out to the sides so I could nestle the chicken in the middle. Make sure you also pour in any juice that's accumulated on your plate; you don't want to miss out on flavour.
What you're seeing there is the bottom of the chicken, where I cooked it a little too long on one side earlier. But no worries! As it simmers that all comes off and adds even more flavour to the sauce, leaving behind beautifully browned chicken without anything looking burned.
See? The chicken is still browned, still has some lemon-pepper on it, and doesn't look burned at all. The wine has reduced down so it's more flavour and less liquid, and the artichoke hearts and onions are tender and packed with flavour.
Recipes always tell you to use a small bowl. I say, why waste a dish? You've already got to measure the heavy cream, so just add the Dijon to the measuring cup and stir. I used a fork, but you can use a whisk if you'd rather. Just something to mix it up. Don't get too into beating it, though. This is whipping cream after all, and you're trying to make a cream sauce, not top a pie.
Remove the pan from the heat before you pour the sauce into the pan (I poured it around the chicken but not on top, although it really doesn't matter). I know, the picture is taken on the same burner, but it was a few minutes later. Stir it into the artichoke mixture so it's well-combined. If the chicken is in your way you can always pull it out and stick it back on the plate for a second before you add the Dijon cream sauce. I'd already washed the plate to eat off of later, though, so I didn't.
I flipped the chicken a couple of times to make sure it got coated in sauce, then it was ready to serve.
I chose to serve over whole wheat couscous because of my mother's dietary restrictions, but you could do it over pasta or potatoes or rice if you'd rather. Just make sure you give yourself enough sauce to truly appreciate the flavour.
I'm ridiculously proud of this one, in case you couldn't tell. I usually do pretty well when I create new recipes, but every once in a while one stands out above the rest, and this is one of those.
Only drawback to this is it doesn't freeze well at all. Which is why I only made two servings, because I knew we wouldn't have time to eat leftovers given our schedules, and I didn't want to waste any.
Chicken and Artichoke Hearts in Dijon Cream Sauce
Serves 2
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 (4 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning, divided (I used Olde Thompson Inc.)
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1 (14.5 ounce) can medium artichoke hearts, drained, halved lengthwise
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup white wine (I used [yellow tail] Pinot Grigio)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Rub chicken on both sides with 1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning. Brown chicken in oil 5 minutes per side; remove to plate and keep warm.
Add onion to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, 2-3 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium. Add artichoke hearts, oregano, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning and cook, stirring occasionally, 3-4 minutes to slightly brown artichoke hearts.
Add wine to pan and stir, then make space in the center to add the chicken and any accumulated juice. Simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until chicken is cooked through, turning and stirring occasionally.
Whisk cream and Dijon together in a small bowl. Remove pan from heat and stir in Dijon cream sauce until completely incorporated.
Serve with pasta, rice or couscous (I used whole wheat couscous), or crusty bread.
Serving Size: 417g
Calories: 495
Calories from Fat: 244
Total Fat: 27.1g
Saturated Fat: 10.3g
Trans Fat: 0.0g
Cholesterol: 142mg
Sodium: 361mg
Total Carbohydrates: 26.6g
Dietary Fiber: 12.5g
Sugars: 3.4g
*Nutrition information does not include couscous.
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