Broiled Chicken Breasts Topped with Artichoke Hearts and Sun-dried Tomatoes

While pondering what to make for dinner with some chicken breasts that I had thawed from the freezer, I remembered Artichoke and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast that I wrote about on May 18, 2010.  I said that I might make it just as an accompaniment to the chicken.  That is what I decided to do for this dinner.

Topping Ingredients:
   2 Tablespoons butter
   1 white onion, chopped
   2 cloves garlic, minced
   1 1/2-cups marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
   1/2-cup marinated sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
   1 teaspoon dried parsley
   1/2-cup white wine

I started by melting the butter in a large frying pan and adding the onion.  I was going to use the rest of the red onion like the original recipe, but when I got it out of the refrigerator, it was moldy, so I just used a white onion instead.  I sautéed the onions for several minutes until they were translucent.

While the onions cooked, I turned on the oven to broil at 550 degrees.  I got out our roaster pan and lightly oiled the bottom, then placed the four chicken breasts on the pan.  I gave each chicken breast a light brushing with oil then put them in the oven on the top rack for five minutes.

I added the garlic, artichoke hearts, and sundried tomatoes to the onions and continued to cook the mixture on medium heat.  I opened the oven door to check on the chicken and stood back as the clouds of smoke rolled out the door.  Oops, the smoke point of the grape seed oils is around 485 degrees.  I opened the doors and windows and turned the oven down to 450, turned the chicken over and set it to bake for another five minutes.

After five minutes, I removed the chicken from the oven and set it on top of the stove.  I added the white wine and the dried parsley to the pan of onion, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes and let it heat and mix with the oils from the marinated vegetables to make a sauce.

I served the chicken accompanied by some hot rice and the onion/artichoke hearts/sun-dried tomato topping.  This easy to make topping really enhanced the visual and flavor when eating a plain chicken breast.

This was an easy dinner to make taking about fifteen minutes.  Next time I will start the broiler at 450 degrees and save having to air out the house.  It’s a good thing we don’t have a smoke detector in our kitchen/family room.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell

Broiled Salmon – Take Two

For dinner last night, we decided to change our normal chicken and beef routine and have some salmon.  On a recent trip to Costco for other food items, I purchased a bag of frozen wild Alaskan salmon (no added color from feed that’s bad for you).

I started by placing two cups of brown rice in our rice cooker with three cups of water and turning it on.  I thawed out four pieces of the salmon in cold water for about twenty minutes, and then placed them in a gallon Ziploc bag.  Into the bag of salmon, I added about a tablespoon of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, which is a gluten free – low sodium replacement for soy sauce. 

I planned to serve lightly steamed asparagus, so I got out a bundle of very small and tender asparagus and I washed and trimmed the shoots.  When I was eleven years old, we lived in a suburb to the east of Yakima Washington, where we would walk about two blocks to a field where the asparagus grew wild.  We would cut as much as we wanted and take it home for dinner.  Now I have trouble growing one small plant in my back yard.

I turned on the oven to broil at 550 degrees and then after about five minutes, I removed the fish from the marinade and placed them skin side down in a broiler pan.  I placed the fish into the oven to broil for four minutes on each side.  While the fish was cooking, I turned on the pan for the asparagus, washed, and sliced some tomatoes for color.  When I turned the fish, I turned the broil setting down to 450 degrees as the salmon was cooking a little too fast.

After the eight minutes the fish was perfectly cooked; I broke one piece open to see that it was flakey and cooked all the way through.  I turned the salmon so it was again skin side down and quickly grated some parmesan cheese on the pieces.  The salmon want back into the oven and I watched as the cheese melted and slightly browned before I removed the salmon from the oven.

I served the salmon, rice, tomato, and asparagus.  For fun, I also grated some parmesan cheese on top of the asparagus to see how it would turn out.  We enjoyed our dinner, I found that most of the melted parmesan cheese came off the fish in the first bite like a spider’s web, but I was able to spread most of it back over the salmon.  The salmon had a nice flavor with a hint of the soy and salt from the Bragg’s liquid.  I didn’t think the parmesan cheese did much for the asparagus, but also did not distract from the taste.

I’m hoping for some better weather so I can take some of the recipes to the BBQ and write about some outdoor grilling, but I continue to watch the sun/rain/hail/wind/sun/rain as it hourly sweeps by our house while I hope for nice weather.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell

Broiled Salmon

We had the opportunity to visit with some friends at the Oregon coast over the weekend where we had a wonderful time sharing good food, conversation, and adventures.  The weather cooperated by only raining at night.  Sunday the temperature was about 65 degrees on the beach with sunshine and no wind – Amazing!

One night I made dinner consisting of: Love Your Wife Chicken, brown rice, and salad (my wife made the salad).  We finished our meal with wonderful slices of Flourless Chocolate Cake topped with whipped cream.



The second night our friends made dinner consisting of broiled wild salmon (no color added) marinated in soy sauce.  The salmon was placed in a baking dish with about a quarter cup of soy sauce and left to marinate for about five minutes on each side.  The marinade gave the salmon meat a nice dark color and added seasoning without making it too salty.

Once the salmon was marinated, it was placed on a piece of foil then on a pan and into the oven on broil.  The salmon fillets were broiled for about four minutes on each side until the fish became opaque.

They also prepared a whole grain rice medley consisting of: CalMati Brown Rice, Wild Rice, Sweet Born Rice, and Heirloom Red Rice.  Freshly steamed broccoli completed the dinner.

While the fish was cooking, our friends peeled and sliced five granny smith apples and mixed the topping for an apple crisp.  The apple crisp was made gluten-free and I wanted to see how that was different from the recipe in my How To Cook Everything cookbook.  I found the recipes were almost identical, the HTCE cookbook called for 1/2-cup of flour to be added to the topping mix and to cook at 25 degrees higher temperature.

Once the salmon was finished cooking the apple crisp went into the oven to bake for an forty-five minutes and we sat down to a wonderful dinner of broiled wild salmon, rice, and broccoli.  The salmon fillets were perfectly cooked and the soy sauce provided a wonderful seasoning to the meat.  We enjoyed our dinner with a bottle of pinot grigio and then we sat and talked until the apple crisp was cooked.

Before dinner we made a trip to the store to get some vanilla ice cream and we each had a quarter of the apple crisp topped with ice cream.  It was excellent, the apples were very tender, and the topping was crisp and crunchy.  The little bit of flour was not missed at all.

Gluten-free Apple Crisp

• 4-cups thinly sliced apples (~5-6 Granny Smith's) as many as can comfortably fit in the baking dish
• 1-Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1-cup gluten-free oatmeal
• 1/2-cup brown sugar
• 1/2-teaspoon salt
• 1-teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3-cup melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix the apple pieces with lemon juice and place the apple mixture into a greased 9x9 baking dish or glass pie pan.
3. Combine dry ingredients and then add melted butter.  Mix until crumbly and sprinkle on top of apples. 
4. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes (or 15-30 minutes longer to get a very gooey apple texture).
5. Top with ice cream or whipped topping

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell

Broiled Tilapia

I read in my new How To Cook Everything cookbook on page 278, about different ways of cooking white fish.  I decided to try the first recipe listed, which is for broiled flatfish or other white fillets. 

In thirty-five years of cooking, I had only used the broiler once before when I made French-onion soup, so this was a new cooking experience for me.  In the past, we always had concerns about handling the smoke and smell generated when broiling meats.

I prepared by getting some tilapia fillets out the freezer and started them thawing in cold water in the sink.  While the tilapia thawed, I prepared the remainder of the meal.  I retrieved some frozen green beans that I placed in a pan, and then I peeled and sliced some fresh carrots.  We already had some fresh brown rice cooked earlier in the day that I could reheat when it was time to eat.  I turned on the oven and selected the broil function, then set the temperature to 450 degrees.


I found our broiler pan and brushed the bottom of the pan with a very thin coating of grape seed oil.  I opened the individual packages of tilapia and placed them on a cutting board.  The recipe calls for fish that is about 1/4-inch thick but these tilapia pieces were about 1/2-inch thick so I sliced each piece in half.  I placed the thin tilapia pieces into the broiler pan.

The cooking instructions give several options for boiling the fish and I wanted to try out a couple of different recipes.  I decided to use the basic cooking technique, which is giving the top of the fish a brushing with oil, and then a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and also a mustard and herbs coating.  I prepared mustard coating by placing about two-tablespoons of Dijon mustard in a ramekin, adding about one-teaspoon of white sugar, some lemon juice, and about one-teaspoon of fresh rosemary.  I stirred this mixture together and spread it on one-half of the fish.

I turned on the range top to cook the frozen beans, and placed the broiler pan in the oven for four minutes.  While everything was cooking, I washed and sliced a couple of tomatoes for color, and a lemon that we could squeeze over our cooked fish.  After the four minutes were up, I checked the fish and while it was close to being cooked, it needed another minute to cook the thicker areas.

We had a wonderful dinner with tilapia, rice, tomato, carrots, and beans with lemon garnish.  Most of the tilapia was perfectly cooked and was light and flaky.  There were a couple of small areas that were thicker and were not quite cooked all the way through, but I microwaved those small areas and they were fine.  We enjoyed the basic preparation of the fish as well as the fish with the mustard and rosemary coating; it was nice to have both options during the meal.

The next time I broil tilapia, I may try some of the other suggested ways of preparing the fish: garlic parsley sauce, dill butter, and sweet soy.  We are enjoying different ways of preparing basic foods, the variety of recipes in the cookbook has added to our appreciation of the different foods we consume.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell