Chicken with Creamy Sundried Tomato Sauce

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (ZReduction) recipe. This is one dish I never thought I could pull off for ZReduction. But here it is! And it’s delicious. Remember you’re allowed 2 Tbl of cream per day. You’ll have to subtract 1 Tbl of cream for one portion of the sauce with this dish.

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients: 

  • 4 boneless chicken breasts (approx 2 lbs). I buy cutlets so I don’t have to pound them down to cook them. In most cases that will mean you can have 2 cutlet pieces per person. Remember to limit yourself to a maximum of 8 oz per person.
  • 3 Tbl of finely chopped shallots. You can use onion if you need to, but shallots just taste fancier.
  • 3 Tbl of minced garlic (jar garlic will work fine)
  • 1 and 1/3 cups of chicken broth. I use low sodium and add my own sea salt. It’s healthier that way.
  • 2 tsp of corn starch
  • ½ cup of sundried tomatoes, finely chopped. A few options. You can buy dry sundried tomatoes and soak them in water before chopping them up. That’s ideal. Or you can buy the ones in oil but be sure to do a real good job of rinsing them off and pat with paper towels to get off the oil. If you want to make your own, check out my recipe for slow-baked “sun dried” tomatoes made in the oven.
  • ¼ cup of whipping cream
  • 3 Tbl of chopped fresh basil
  • a handful of fresh baby spinach (optional)
  • Olive oil spray
  • Grated sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Spray a large saute pan with olive oil. Season your chicken with sea salt and pepper. When the pan is hot add the chicken. Saute on medium-high until the chicken is done. No pink remains. If you check with a meat thermometer you are looking for 165 degrees. Wrap in aluminum foil and set aside. Or if your oven is on for something else you can cook them slightly less and put them in the oven in an oven-proof pan.

Use the same skillet. Spray it with olive oil again. Add the shallot and saute until nearly soft. Only takes a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and stir it around for 1 minute or less.

Pour in the chicken broth and scrape up the browned bits in the pan.

In a small bowl, whisk 1 Tbl of the broth with the corn starch until combined and no lumps remain.

Add the main portion of the broth to the pan and add the cornstarch mixture. Stir in the sundried tomatoes. Season the sauce with sea salt and pepper. Lightly boil and allow to simmer for a minute; stirring constantly. Add the cream. Cook a couple more minutes until the cream begins to thicken. Toss in the spinach and let it wilt into the sauce.

Remove from heat. Add the chicken and spoon the sauce over the chicken to coat it.

Serve on your plates. Spoon ¼ of the sauce over each portion and garnish with the basil bits.

Serve immediately.

Serve with roasted asparagus or roasted green beans. Suitable for company!

Enjoy!

Cheers,