Monday 11 April 2016

Chicken Caprese

I often see recipes in magazines, on television or on blogs which look really good and I think I'll give them a try myself but in reality, I'm not very adventurous in the kitchen so I end up sticking with things I know. One blog I read regularly which has some wonderful recipes is The Low Carb Diabetic. Now I'm not a diabetic and I don't follow a low carb diet but the recipes which Jan posts are always very tempting and look delicious, and of course, you can add carbs if you want to.

I remember Jan posting a Chicken Caprese recipe quite a while ago now. I popped the post into my favourites and as usual, there it languished, that was until she mentioned the recipe again last week which gave me a nudge. It's such an easy recipe so I don't know why I hadn't got round to trying it. Anyway, I thought it was about time I did so I gave it a go.

The recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken thighs but I had some chicken breasts in the freezer so I thought I'd use those instead. I just adjusted the cooking time as the breasts were much bigger than thighs would have been. I started off by sprinkling the chicken with salt and pepper and then searing them in a frying pan in a little olive oil.


They were then arranged in a glass baking dish, covered in foil and baked in the oven for about twenty minutes. This stage isn't included in the recipe but as the breasts were quite large, it ensured that they were cooked through, I'd have missed out this stage had I been using thighs.

After twenty minutes, I removed the foil, topped each breast with mozzarella and slices of tomato and then returned to the oven uncovered. After a further thirty minutes I removed them from the oven. The cheese was melted and the chicken thoroughly cooked through.


I popped them under the grill for about three minutes to brown the top of the cheese then sprinkled them with fresh basil.


Here they are all plated up, served with new potatoes which have been drizzled with butter, and green beans.


It's such a simple recipe but tastes absolutely delicious and I can see it becoming a regular favourite. I don't often buy tomatoes from the supermarket, they just don't seem to have any taste eaten raw when you compare them to home grown tomatoes, but cooked is another matter, the tangy tomatoey taste mixed with the cheese and chicken is yummy and though Mick and Eleanor don't usually eat tomatoes at all, they actually cleared their plates. We all enjoyed it very much indeed. If you'd like to have a go yourself, and I can definitely recommend you do, you'll find the recipe on Jan's Chicken Caprese ... Mama Mia It Sure Tastes Great! post. Thank you, Jan, for the inspiration.

52 comments:

  1. Oh that looks very nice, thanks for posting, like you i tend to stick to the same old things. I'm trying to follow SW at the moment, (with not very much success these last couple of weeks), but this looks as though it could be very SW friendly using the cheese as a healthy extra.
    I'll let you know how mine turns out :-)

    Thanks for telling me what the birds were on my post, i'm hopeless with bird species, lol

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    1. I can't say I particularly enjoy cooking, I think that's because I've got a family of fussy eaters, but they're getting better and that gives me the encouragement to be a bit more adventurous sometimes. This is such a quick and simple meal though so I'm glad everyone enjoyed it as it's one I can now add to my regular repertoire, unless Daniel's home from uni as he doesn't like cheese or tomatoes. I'm not brilliant on bird identification but I know a few of the more common ones.

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  2. Jane makes a dish that is rather similar - often using leftover turkey after Christmas. Hers uses a cheesy Béchamel sauce instead of the Mozzarella, but the principle is the same. Likewise, our version is usually topped with sliced tomato. We like to have ours with rice.

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    1. I've got lots of turkey to use up so I could definitely substitute the chicken for turkey. It's such a simple recipe, a good one if you're short on time.

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  3. that looks absolutely delicious! *drools *

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    1. It so tasty, I shall definitely be making it again very soon.

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    1. The plate is from a set I bought from BHS, I thought they were really cute and couldn't resist them.

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  5. Thank you for the recipe link, I am going to try this this week. It looks delicious,
    Meredith

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    1. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, it's so simple to make but very tasty.

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  6. Sounds lovely Jo, lovely to be able to use fresh herbs too, I love herbs! x

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    1. I must admit that I rarely use herbs in my cooking but I've started to build up a small herb collection which I'm growing in pots so I'm using them more these days than I used to.

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  7. That looks very tasty I will add to my recipes, thankyou x

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    1. It was really delicious and it's always good to find something which all the family enjoys.

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  8. It looks and sounds delicious, Jo! :o)

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    1. It is, I think I may cook it again this week.

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  9. Looks good. I shall add the recipe to my list.
    xx

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    1. I've had it in my favourites for a long time, I wish I'd tried it sooner.

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  10. Hi Jo! Oh, I do the same thing about saving a recipe and I do get to them eventually! This chicken dish looks and sounds so delicious! I will certainly have to try this! I notice you live in Leeds. My daughter and son in law lived in Otley for two years and my son in law worked at the college in Leeds! We went a couple of times to visit them and what a wonderful place! I'll have to tell her I've met a blogger from Leeds! Thank you so much for popping in to see me.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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    1. I think I should definitely make more of an effort to try some different recipes, especially after finding such a good one. I live in a small town on the outskirts of Leeds, I like it here as we have the best of both worlds, the countryside is not very far way and neither is a big city. I used to work in Leeds city centre but I don't visit all that often these days now that I'm not working. Otley is a lovely place, we sometimes visit, I'm sure your daughter and son in law will have liked living there.

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  11. That looks so delicious! I'm always on the lookout for recipes that are healthy, delicious AND easy/quick. Finding recipes that meet all three conditions is often a challenge! I've added this one to my list, including your revisions as we almost exclusively use boneless chicken breasts around here.

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    1. It's definitely a good recipe for when you don't have a lot of time, there's hardly any preparation and it doesn't take long to cook. I wish I'd used it sooner.

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  12. That looks and sounds delicious. Flighty xx

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    1. It is. I'm looking forward to having my own tomatoes and basil to use in the recipe.

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  13. My other half can't eat cheese so we don't use any in our cooking, but that sounds wonderful.

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    1. I absolutely love cheese so I love to use it in any recipe but Daniel won't eat cheese at all so I doubt I'll be making this recipe when he's home from uni.

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  14. It certainly looks delicious and well worth a try when the family are here so I am not spending hours in the kitchen.

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    1. It can take a long time to get a tasty meal on the table so you're right, this is a good one when you don't want to spend ages slaving in the kitchen. I hope you give it a try.

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  15. Oh that looks very nice and tasty, I love trying new recipes and using fresh herbs, so thank you for sharing. My MIL gifts me a subscription to Good Food magazine each year, which I enjoy especially as it is like getting a christmas present every month, even if they are not quite to your taste you can soon adapt. Bon appetit xcx

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    1. I've bought Good Food magazine on occasions, it does have some good recipes in it but I never seem to get round to making them. I think I'm a bit stuck in my ways, I really should make more of an effort to try new things.

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  16. It looks lovely Jo. It's nice to find a recipe that you can use again xx

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    1. It's good to find a recipe which everyone will eat. I get fed up of having to make different things for different people, they can be so fussy so this is a great recipe for me. I just know not to make it when Daniel's home from uni as he definitely wouldn't eat it.

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  17. Jo - I am so pleased you tried the Chicken Caprese - your dish looks absolutely delicious, no wonder the plates were emptied!
    Many thanks for the links back to the low carb diabetic, as you know I love sharing recipes ... and I often find that if they don't quite suit they can be amended.

    Eating whole fresh foods is such a pleasure.

    Hope you've had a great Monday, I did pop out earlier and timed it completely wrong! I got caught out in a very heavy shower!

    Enjoy your evening, and thanks again for the link.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Chicken Caprese is just one of the recipes I've saved from your blog, there's lots you post which really appeal to me and as you say, even if they don't quite suit, they're usually very easy to alter. I must get round to trying some of the others I've got in my favourites now. Oh no, getting caught in a shower is no fun at all. It's been fine here all day, though we were forecast rain this afternoon, no doubt we'll get that tomorrow now.

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  18. Now that looks like a great dish for the children.......(not being a meat eater myself).

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    1. I think they'd really enjoy it. It's quite rare in my house that we all enjoy the same thing as they're all fussy eaters but our plates were cleared. Mind you, Daniel wouldn't have eaten it had he been home from uni. You can't please everyone, well, not in my house.

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  19. Hi Jo,

    Lovely to discover your blog and the chicken recipe looks great and thanks for sharing. Jan always has the best recipes and I enjoy visiting her and her blog also.
    Enjoy the week
    Carolyn

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    1. There's lots of other recipe posts I've saved from Jan's blog, the food she shows always looks really tasty and the recipes are very easy to follow. I'm so pleased that I tried this one as it's something we all enjoyed.

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  20. Oh. My. Goodness! I'm in love with this recipe.

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    1. I hope you give it a try, it was delicious.

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  21. Sounds lovely Jo and your amaryllis is gorgeous. We are away and this is the first time I've had WiFi. I'll be back soon with a post. Have a good week and take care.

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    1. It was really delicious. Enjoy your time away.

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  22. chicken ,tomatoes, basil, cheese my favs. I love recipes thanks for sharing

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    1. I love cheesy recipes, the tomato in this gives it a wonderful tang.

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  23. That looks delicious, I'll be giving it a try. xx

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    1. I love the combination of flavours, it's definitely a winner in our house.

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  24. That looks really good. I'd like to try out more recipes but the family have their favourites so I tend to stick to the same things. And although Mark is very much a gravy man he's not keen on sauces. Shame really as making the same things over and over again is so boring. xx

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    1. Your household sounds very similar to mine. Mick's a gravy man too, he was so fussy when I met him, didn't eat any veggies at all and nothing with sauces but I've managed to slowly change him over the years. The best thing I ever did was get an allotment, he eats most veggies now. Daniel took after him and has always been a fussy eater too until he went away to university, now he'll eat much more than he ever has before, though he can still be picky. Eleanor will give most things a try and does like most things too, though she's not so keen on veg which is funny as she used to eat anything I put in front of her. I know what you mean about it being boring making the same things, that's exactly how I feel but if you find something which all the family enjoys when they're fussy eaters, you tend to stick with it.

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  25. i too read Jan's blog and found her recipes great ,

    your dishes appeared like wonderful piece of art ,surely yum to eat

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    1. I have saved lots of other recipes which Jan's posted, I really must get round to trying some more. This chicken caprese definitely was yum to eat.

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  26. Jan does have some fab recipes. You sure look like a good cook too!xxx

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    1. There's lots of recipes I want to try from Jan's blog, it's just a case of getting round to doing so. I'm not sure about being a good cook myself, I can manage just so long as it's an easy recipe.

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