Fit Fare

OK, so you have friends coming over for a fit and fabulous dinner next weekend. Luckily, you ran across this fabulous recipe for Swiss chard toasts with pecorino that will make a perfect starter. But what do you feed the healthy hungry folks for the main meal? When entertaining you want to try and please as many (and preferably all) of your guests. Why try and reinvent the wheel? I say stick with a classic, an original, a tried and true crowd-pleaser: chicken.

Poultry-eaters, this message (and I guess this whole post) is for you: please buy free-range certified-organic chicken.

More and more attention has been brought to the risks we face by eating chemically treated and genetically modified foods. If you choose to eat meat it’s important to know where that meat is coming from, how it was raised and how it got to your table.

While it can be more expensive and sometimes harder to fine, buying free-ranging certified-organic chicken is more than worth it when you consider the health benefits. These birds contain no hormones, antibiotics or chemical additives and with a natural diet and room to roam they remain a lean, clean source of protein.

With that said, I know what you might be thinking, “Chicken for company? It’s just so…weeknight.” Yes, chicken is great for Monday-Thursday, but why not take it out and show it a good time on Friday, Saturday or Sunday? Chicken is often what we turn to in the middle of the week because it’s so undeniably versatile. Slice it, shred it, grind it, pound it, chicken is, as I mentioned, a great source of lean protein (on average about 22 grams per 110 calorie serving for one organic boneless-skinless breast). It’s affordable and freezable and you can find it just about any way you like it; whether that’s whole or in parts, skin on or skin-less. Tandoori, tacos or teriyaki, chicken becomes it. Bake it, roast it, boil it, fry it, grill it, smoke it, steam it, serve it, and eat it.

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Rosemary and Red Wine

Pan-roasting is like the push-up bra for chicken breasts — it gives them that extra oomph that’ll get them noticed. The red wine sauce makes it fancy enough for company, but by all means you can skip that part if you’re not interested, or if “sauce” makes you uncomfortable. Oh yeah, this is great with salmon too (just reduce your marination time to a half hour.)

6 boneless-skinless, free-range organic chicken breasts
1 lemon, juiced and zested
3 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup red wine (or chicken broth)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a dish large enough to fit the chicken comfortably, combine the lemon zest and juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Place chicken in marinade, turning a few times to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate at least 1/2 hour or overnight.

When you’re ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large oven-safe pan (no plastic handles!) over medium high heat. Remove chicken from marinade and place top side down in the pan—it should sizzle nicely, if it doesn’t remove the chicken and wait another minute.

Cook chicken about 5 minutes until golden brown. (If you go to move it and it sticks, wait, it’s not ready).**Turn chicken over and place pan into the hot oven.

Roast chicken 20 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and arrange on a platter to rest while you make the pan sauce.

Put the pan you used cook the chicken right back on the stove over medium high heat (PLEASE remember the pan is hot!). Add wine or broth — be careful, it might spit a bit) and using a wooden spoon or a heat-safe spatula start stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to release all the caramelized bits stuck to the bottom. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer the sauce for 5 minutes until slightly reduced. Strain if you like (this is not imperative) and drizzle over the chicken. Serve.

Serves 4-6

**It’s possible you don’t have a pan that fits 6 chicken breasts (in fact, I don’t). That’s OK. You can cook the chicken on the stove in batches (say, three breasts at a time) and then transfer them all to a baking pan (or two) that you’ll slip in the oven. Hang onto the first pan though, because you’re still going to make the sauce in it!