review-Pan Seared Chicken w/ Artichokes

[pes]

I tried th Pan-Seared chicken w/ artichokes and Pasta. Really good. Usually, we have a problem with leftovers going bad, but this was great. It was goes together very quickly, so you can have dinner on the table in about 40 minutes.

[Lynn B]

Thanks for the review! This is on my "Make this week!" list!
Lynn

[laden]

Oh my gosh, this is soooo gooood! Definitely a repeater! And very easy too.

It tastes very fattening, I'm afraid CL will come back and correct the nutritional analysis.

[Linda in MO]

I would love it if someone could post this recipe! Thanks a lot!

[Grace]

It's from the March issue...here you go:

CookWare(tm) from Cooking Light(r)

Pan-Seared Chicken With Artichokes and Pasta

SOURCE: Cooking Light YEAR: March 2001 PAGE: 202

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 SERVINGS:
1 (6-ounce) jar marinated artichoke heart quarters, undrained
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1-1/2 pounds)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups hot cooked cavatappi (about 2-1/2 cups uncooked spiral tube-shaped pasta) or fusilli (short twisted spaghetti)
1 tablespoon chopped pitted kalamata olives
1 (14.5-ounce) canned diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:
Four food groups, great taste, and great nutrition--all in one bowl. Since
everything is cooked in one pan, the larger the pan, the better.

1. Drain artichokes in a colander over a bowl, reserving marinade.

2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; coat with cooking spray. Heat a
large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; saute 3 minutes on
each side. Add onions and garlic; saute 1 minute. Stir in reserved artichoke
marinade and wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil;
reduce heat, and stir in artichokes, pasta, olives, and tomatoes. Cook 2
minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 4 servings
(serving size: 2 thighs and about 1-3/4 cups pasta mixture).

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
CALORIES 436 (29% from fat); FAT 14g (sat 3.4g, mono 4.6g, poly 4.4g); PROTEIN
34.4g; CARB 39g; FIBER 1.9g; CHOL 115mg; IRON 3.9mg; SODIUM 594mg; CALC 96mg

[Peggy]

We had this for dinner tonight and it was very good. I used boneless chicken breasts instead of the thighs and increased the cooking time slightly. My husband said it was "Good, but not spectacular", but I really liked it. I would give it an 8/10.

Peggy

[Linda in MO]

Thank you so much, Grace! It looks good. My subscription hasn't kicked in yet.

[pmmahan]

Peggy-
I posted a review of this sometime ago, and I thought that the flavor really was from the chicken thighs (perhaps because the meat is a little darker). I've never been a fan of chicken thighs, but I think that with this recipe, they really add to the flavor.
I am actually dying to make it again, and will probably this week!

[NancyR]

I agree, thought it was great. Unlike Peggy who thought the thighs made it I thought that was the only downside (maybe my thighs weren't top notch). Anyway, I will definitely make it again but with breast meat next time (shrimp might be good too).

[smacko]

I tried this recipe too. Found it a little bland, specifically the chicken. Did anyone try anything different to spice it up?

[Peggy]

pmmahan,

Thanks for the thigh suggestion. I usually don't use chicken thighs because my daughter doesn't like the dark meat. However, maybe my husband would like the recipe better if I didn't use the chicken breasts. Over time, I have noticed that we seem to have similar tastes in food and wine! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif I keep a sharp eye out for your reviews!

Peggy

[Darlin]

My family doesn't really care for artichokes. Can anything be substituted? How about broccoli?

[Peggy]

Darlin,

I'm not sure that taking out the artichokes would be a good idea. The recipe calls for the artichokes that are marinated and the marinade is one of the sauce ingredients. I think it really added to the overall flavor of the recipe. There really aren't very many artichokes in a small jar. Maybe you could pull the artichokes out at the end... ??? That way you would have the flavor of the marinade in the sauce. Just a thought...

Peggy

[pes]

my 15 year old son hates artichokes, but he liked this. He just left a small pile of them on the side of his plate, but he liked the overall flavor of this.

[Joyce]

We had this last night, and it was definitely a keeper. I also substituted chicken leg quarters on sale at 29 cents a lb., in place of the thighs. I do this frequently and it works well if you are on a budget.

[aka]

I made this last night and my husband and I both liked it. Nice and quick and easy. I used pimiento stuffed olives instead of the ones called for (I didn't have those). I used 2 thighs and 2 breasts. I used some of the juice for the tomatoes (it says not to).

I'll be making this again.

Lilia

[jliah]

Joyce, I did the same thing (used chicken quarters on sale for 25 cents a pound). Great minds. . . Anyway, our family LOVED this recipe. Can't wait to make it again. My kids were quite leary of the artichokes but ate them right up--happily.

I used tri-color fusilli, and the kids didn't even complain about the spinach in them. It made for a colorful, interesting-looking dish.

I did add just a bit more of the freshly grated parmesan cheese because we are BIG cheese lovers.

[Beth]

I made this last night and we both liked it, but I also made substitutions to fit what I had on hand. First, I thought I had 4 chicken breasts in two ziploc bags in the freezer, but one turned out to be the neck and such from another chicken saved for stock. I thawed a ppiece or boneless pork loin and sliced it, so we had seared chicken and pork. I dumped the whole can of tomatoes in, juice and all (wondered about the sauce, but wasn't reading closely I guess...it thickened up as the broccoli finished steaming. And I also used the stuffed green olives. My husband was very pleased and kept saying how much flavor it had. I was thinking of cutting up the meat for a quicker cooking meal, but the whole pieces look nice.

[SallyJ]

I made this last night and my DH and I both liked it. My DH thought it was very different and he's really picky! I made it just as the recipe stated. My only mistake was buying chicken thighs that were not already skinned and deboned and doing that myself at home. THat took about 45 minutes! yuck. But they were on sale and I couldn't see spending 5 or 6 times the amount for the same thing already deboned. Now I know why they cost so much more!

[valchemist]

I made this last night and my husband and I just loved it.

We used the chicken thighs and both thought they added to the flavor...and they were so tender. We are used to chicken breasts, so it was a nice change.

The recipe only calls for a tablespoon of chopped kalamatas. DH and I thought that needed to be doubled or tripled. We are not huge fans of olives, but we like them. And they were great in this dish. If you are making this dish, it is definitely worth it to go out and buy some good Kalamatas. They really made the dish special. Again, this is coming from a person who isn't a huge olive fan.

The only other change I might make, suggested by my husband, would be to cut the thighs into pieces...he just thought it would be nicer/easier to eat that way.

The recipe was so easy and tasty. I will be making this again for sure!

Valerie

[This message has been edited by valchemist (edited 03-21-2001).]

[gabbyh]

We had friends over for dinner this past w/e and this dish was a major hit!
Changes I made to the original recipe:
-used 6 boneless thighs/2 boneless breasts
-did NOT drain the tomatoes, and simmered it for about 30 minutes to get rid of most of the liquid, made it earlier in the day, and added artichokes, olives and pasta right beofore I served it
-next time I'll use 2 jars of artichokes
Will definitely make this again!

[misstapioca]

i made this a few nights ago. i wish i had read all these posts. Darn! I would have doubled the artichokes and chopped up the thigh meat. This recipe was quite easy and very tasty. It was a bit high in fat though, probrably from all the olive oil in the artichoke marinade. i too am afraid CL will come back with a whole new nutritional analysis!

[Beth]

From the look of the jar of artichokes I used, I doubt they add more than 1 T of oil.

[buddie]

i made this last night using fusilli noodles and we thought a definate keeper!!!!

very light full of flavor and we both brought it for lunch today http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

i did MODIFY IT by using chicken breasts that i cut up and stir fried with pepper.

[This message has been edited by buddie (edited 04-23-2001).]

[DanaSD]

I didn't like this recipe at all - looks like I'm in the minority on this one.

Not enough flavor and I don't care for chicken thigh - love the dark meet but too much fat. I tried to trim it away but there were still hidden pockets of fat. I thought the sauce was strange - too much liquid.

[Kristi]

Someone in my supper club made this and I thought it was very good, although I didn't eat any of the chicken thighs. I enjoyed the way the flavors melded together in the pasta. I may try this with chicken breasts as others suggested or with mushrooms in place of the meat.

[ewatkins]

I thought it was very bland, but then I skipped the olives as I hate them. Not enough artichokes for me, and the sauce was too thin.

[mb]

i thought it was okay. i used boneless skinless breasts cut into chunks because i don't like dark meat at all. there wasn't quite enough flavor (and yes, i did add olives, and probably extra garlic too). but, the dish was very 'light', so in that sense it was enjoyable.