Persian-Style Chicken with Walnut, Onion, and Pomegranate Sauce

Tags

chicken, healthy, onions, pomegranate, tomato sauce, walnut

Cooking!  It truly is one of my favorite things.  And the more new recipes I find and try, the more fun it becomes.  I love experimenting in the kitchen!

Last week, I bought a book called The Healthiest Meals on Earth.  It is very interesting, and includes a ton of scientific information on food, as well as several recipes (including some desserts, but that’s for another post).  I tried out a Persian-Style Chicken.  The sauce for it includes pomegranate juice, tomato sauce, and a few other surprise goodies!

Here’s what my final product looked like:

Along with the chicken, we had a salad of chilled haricots verts with a pomegranate-mint dressing.  Elle a été fabuleuse!!

Recipe for Persian-Style Chicken with Walnut, Onion, and Pomegrante Sauce, adapted from The Healthiest Meals on Earth:

3 lbs. chicken breasts

2 medium onions, halved and sliced thin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup plus 2 T pomegranate juice

1/3-1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 T lemon juice

1 1/2 T unsulphured molasses

2 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1.  Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet or pot.  Cook the chicken until browned on all sides and almost done.  Remove from pan and place on a plate.

2.  Using the same oil, sauté onions for about 10 minutes, until tender and golden.  Add the cinnamon and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add the walnuts and cook for 1 more minute, again stirring.

3.  Add the pomegranate juice, tomato sauce, chicken broth, lemon juice, and molasses and bring to a boil.  Add salt and pepper as well, if desired.

4.  Simmer for 3 minutes, then return the chicken to the pan, leaving any juices that accumulated on the plate.

5.  Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Enjoy!!

I served our chicken over a bed of couscous – simple and delicious!

The dressing on the green beans is also very simple:

3/4 cup pomegranate juice

1/4 olive oil

2 T fresh mint, finely chopped

2 T lemon juice

1/4 tsp dry ground mustard

Cook 1 lb haricot verts and drain, then put into a bowl of ice water (so they don’t overcook).  After 10 minutes, drain again and pat dry.

For the dressing, mix all ingredients (blend if you prefer).  Pour a few tablespoons over the beans, and save the rest for more delicious salads!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

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dessert, pie, rhubarb, strawberries, strawberry

My first attempt at pie, I’m proud to say, was a success.  I found a recipe here, via Tastespotting.com.  I’d never worked with rhubarb before, and I didn’t even know what to look for in the grocery store!  However, I managed to find some at the awesome Harvest Co-op on Mass. Ave. in Central Square.

On to the baking:  I was worried about making the dough, since I definitely wanted to do that from scratch but my experience was nill.  I also used whole wheat flour because, really, what kind of attempt at healthy would my life be if I used the ultra-bleached kind?  After nervously letting the dough chill for over an hour, I set to work on the filling.  Realizing I had not bought enough rhubarb to make 4 cups, I added extra strawberries and lowered the sugar to 1/2 cup to compensate.  I was quite pleased with my dough and even attempted a lattice pattern on top!  And it worked!  And looked gorgeous!

Into the oven my pie went.  Forty-five minutes later, I had gorgeous, sweet-smelling pie (that also happened to drip a bunch of strawberry-rhubarb juice on the bottom of my oven).  After letting it cool, I stuck it in the freezer for faster cooling 🙂  It was not destined to be eaten in my kitchen.  No, the yummy stuff, per usual, was being brought over to the boyfriend’s place.  I had told him earlier that day that I was going home to make a surprise.  He was surprised!

I did try to remember to take a picture, but at the last moment I forgot!  So then I told my boyfriend to take a picture, but he has yet to do so.  I will try again later (apparently there’s still pie left from Saturday – *gasp!*), but it may be only a sliver of a picture.

UPDATE:  He got a picture!  Here it is:

My boyfriend got a picture after we'd eaten a good chunk of it...

The rest of the weekend has been very pleasant, particularly since I’ve had off from classes both yesterday and today. Yay for Massachusetts and Patriots’ Day!  But it’s back to the grind tomorrow – that is, after my anniversary dinner with my boyfriend!!  I can’t believe it’s been a year!  I do adore him, and I’m so excited.  The locale: Veggie Planet! (We’re low-key and awesome like that.) ❤

Minuteman Bikeway

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biking, Minuteman, nature pics

Wednesday was an absolutely gorgeous day!  I went for an early morning bike ride with my awesome boyfriend.  We had breakfast at Bruegger’s in Porter Square, and from there biked up Mass. Ave to the Alewife station, where the Minuteman Bikeway begins.  It isn’t just for bikes, though.  There were people walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading; some alone, some with other people, with dogs, with babies in strollers.  It was amazing and fun to see.

We didn’t bike the entire trail (which is 11 miles one-way, from Alewife to Bedford), but by the time we got back to my boyfriend’s place, we had clocked in at just over 13 miles.  By the way, when we did get back, I promptly showered and passed out for about an hour and a half. 🙂  Naps are fun.

Here are some pictures from the day (we both had our cameras with us, and stopped a few times to take pictures):