Bruschetta Style Chicken with Garlic-Basil Orzo

This is a  light meal, full of flavor and very satisfying. 

Roasted Chicken
4  6-oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
Granulated garlic
Rubbed sage
Sea salt & Pepper

Arrange chicken on roasting pan.  Brush with oil and season with herbs.  Roast in oven for 30 minutes at 350F.  Check to be sure chicken is cooked through.  If additional time is needed, reduce heat to 300 and bake another 15 minutes.

Bruschetta Sauce
2 14-oz cans petitie diced tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon olive or canola oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil coarse chopped.
2 cloves garlic, chopped or 2 teaspoon chopped wet garlic (available in cooler section of grocery store)
Sea salt & Pepper, to taste

Put oil and onions in a medium saucepan and saute onions until tender.  Add the remaining ingredients to saucepan and simmer on low heat for half hour, stirring occasionally. 

Orzo
1 cup orzo
1 1/2 cup water
1 chicken bouillion cube
granulated garlic
fresh chopped basil

In a suate pan, over low heat. lightly toast the orzo.  Stir occasionally to evenly toast.  Turn heat to medium high and add water and bouillion cube.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occationally.  Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and basil and simmer 3 more minutes.  Cover and remove from heat until ready to serve.

Plate
Portion out orzo on plate.  Slice breast of chicken and arrange on top of orzo.  Top with Bruschetta Sauce and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

This is a classic French dish simplified. Good food does not necessarily mean complicated food.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded flat
8 slices Swiss cheese
8 slices deli ham
8 spears fresh asparagus (optional)
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
¼ cup melted butter
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Pound out the chicken breasts until equal thickness through out, using a meat mallet. Lay breasts with inside facing up. (Determining the inside and outside of the breast is easy. The outside is smooth, and the inside you can see the muscle tissue.) Layer Swiss cheese, deli ham, and asparagus across short part of the meat. Grasping one end of breast, tightly roll it up and secure with a toothpick. Lay seam side down in a baking dish sprayed with pan release.

Season with salt and pepper. Mix breadcrumbs and butter together and evenly sprinkle on top of breasts. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes and breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Serve over wild rice with a White Basil Sauce.




White Basil Sauce

In a saucepan, combine 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, sea salt and pepper to taste. Bring up to medium heat and stir to keep from burning. Once hot, add 1 pint heavy whipping cream. Bring back up to heat, until you get a gentle rolling boil. Allow to reduce slightly and thicken with a pinch of roux. Roux (pronounced roué) is melted clarified butter heated with a little plain flour and made into a paste. Remember, sauce will thicken more once it cools some. If it is too thick, just add a little more cream or milk.

Serve over Chicken Cordon Bleu.