Sun-Dried Tomato & Artichoke Chicken

It’s been a while since I dug into my Google Reader for a dinner recipe and I was looking for something new and exciting to make this week. I perused my starred recipes and found something delicious looking from Lani. It has multiple foods that we love- artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and chicken. How could we go wrong!?

We couldn’t- it was delightful! I modified her recipe just a bit- subbed in heavy cream for butter, reduced the amount of chicken, and didn’t bother with the flour. We served this over egg noodles and loved it. My husband kept saying how much he liked the tomato flavor!

Oh, there was one horrible thing about this meal, and it has nothing to do with the recipe. So I needed canned artichokes- great, I had 2 cans of Reese Artichoke Hearts in the pantry. These are good quality, large artichoke hearts that have a good flavor and seem pretty fresh. I opened up a can and pulled out 5 hearts to include in this recipe. I would slice each one in half, and then cut each half into a few pieces. La dee da, I get to the 4th one and slice it in half. Something catches my eye and I think it is a mini artichoke bud inside the middle- you know, like what green peppers start to grow along the stem when you let them sit too long?

I am so very very sad to say it was not a mini artichoke growing inside, though it was organic. It was a dead green caterpillar!!!!!! EW EW EW EW!!! Hubby was there when I was picking it out with my fingers to see what it was and we both proceeded to do the icky icky gross dance after I dropped the misplaced insect onto the cutting board. EW EW EW!!!!! Thank god I didn’t cut the thing in half- I might have barfed. This thing was folded/ curled in half and was at least an inch long if I had stretched it out. EW. Needless to say, we threw out the bug and the artichoke it came from. We went ahead and ate the other ones from that can, figuring (praying?) any grossness would be cooked off. Still, ew.

Don’t let that dissuade you from trying this recipe though- just check your ‘chokes!


Sun-Dried Tomato & Artichoke Chicken
Modified from Lani’s Pleasure Cooker

• 1 Large Chicken Breast, cut into bite sized pieces
  
• Olive Oil for sautéing
  
• 1/2 C. White Cooking Wine
  
• Juice of 1/2 Lemon
  
• 1 C. Artichoke Hearts, drained, sliced, and de-wormed (EW!)
  
• 1/3 C. Julienne-cut Sun-Dried Tomatoes
  
• 6-8 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
  
• Salt & Pepper to taste
  
• 1/2 C. Heavy Cream
  
• 2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese, finely grated
  

1. In a large sauté pan, heat some olive oil over medium heat and cook the chicken. Do not overcook it though, as it will continue to sit in the hot pan while the rest of the ingredients are incorporated.
   
2. Add in the white wine and cook over medium-high until it reduces, about 2-3 minutes.
   
3. Stir in the lemon juice, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs and stir those in with the salt & pepper. To get the leaves off of fresh thyme, hold the leafy end of the sprig in one hand with your thumb and finger. Using the thumb and finger of your other hand, gently and quickly snap the leaves off, moving from the top of the sprig to the bottom. This reverse directional motion with your fingernails should pop off the leaves- and leave your hands smelling lovely!
   
4. Stir in the cream to the mixture and let it simmer for a couple of minutes, again to reduce the liquid.
   
5. Just before serving, stir in the grated cheese so that it all melts into the recipe. Serve over egg noodles, other pasta, or even rice or bread for a hearty meal!