Eating Well on Menu Monday

Eating Well magazine is one of my favorites, and I spent some time last week thumbing through a few old issues. I was looking for a specific recipe, but came across a few others to try this week.

Monday - Chicken and Asparagus w/ Melted Gruyere, whole grain medly
Tuesday - Grilled tuna, cucumber and black-eyed pea salad, focaccia
Wednesday - Stuffed turkey burgers, sweet corn, green salad
Thursday - Loaded Twice-baked potatoes, Ceaser salad
Friday - Jessi's choice - she'll be home by suppertime (yea!)


So tonight I made the chicken recipe and it was so good! If my table manners hadn't been refined by years of maturity, I might have licked my plate. Now I didn't have fresh tarragon, and I checked around town to no avail. I always recommend using fresh if possible.

Chicken & Asparagus with Melted Gruyere
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces


⅔ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth


2 teaspoons plus ¼ cup all-purpose flour, divided


4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1-1 ¼ pounds), trimmed


¼ teaspoon salt


½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper


1 tablespoon canola oil


1 shallot, thinly sliced


½ cup white wine (I buy those 4-packs of tiny bottles of white wine to use in my cooking. There is just a tad more than half a cup in those, and it's pretty decent wine.)


⅓ cup reduced-fat sour cream


1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or 1 teaspoon dried


2 teaspoons lemon juice


⅔ cup shredded Gruyère cheese (This costs about a zillion dollars a pound, so I think a Swiss or Parmesan would be an acceptable substitute.)

1. Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add asparagus; cover and steam for 3 minutes. Uncover, remove from the heat and set aside.


2. Whisk broth and 2 teaspoons flour in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.


3. Place the remaining 1/4 cup flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour, shaking off any excess.


4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side, adjusting heat as needed to prevent scorching. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.


5. Add shallot, wine and the reserved broth mixture to the pan; cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in sour cream, tarragon, lemon juice and the reserved asparagus until combined.
Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover and continue cooking until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.


Nutrition Information
Per serving: 306 calories; 15 g fat (6 g sat, 6 g mono); 91 mg cholesterol; 7 g carbohydrate; 31 g protein; 1 g fiber; 298 mg sodium; 343 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Selenium (36% daily value), Calcium (25% dv).
1/2 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 4 lean meat, 1/2 fat