Cilantro Chicken with Italian Sausage and Black Olives

I enjoy making skillet dinner recipes because they are so quick and easy to make. I found this recipe on about.com and thought it needed dressing up. Here are the basic steps to give you an overview.

Season the chicken. Seasoning the chicken breasts with salt and pepper was boring so I decided that since I had cilantro, lime juice, and fish sauce on hand that I'd use it to spice up this chicken. I cut the breasts into thirds for faster cooking but you can cook the breasts whole.

Chicken cilantro marinade

3 skinless boneless chicken breasts, whole or cut into thirds 
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil, for browning

Cook the sausages. I bought these spicy Italian sausages at Whole Foods that didn't have any nitrates in them. I browned them in a teaspoon of olive oil then cooked them in wine and chicken broth until the liquid was reduced. The sausages don't need to be thoroughly cooked as they will undergo more cooking later. Remove sausages from the pan and cut into 1 inch pieces. Set aside for later.

Italian sausages
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine

Brown the chicken. After removing the sausages, add a tablespoon olive oil to the same pan and sear the chicken breasts on both sides. They don't need to cook through since they will undergo more cooking later. Remove the chicken from the pan and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Set aside.

Make the vegetable sauce. Using the fond or the browned bits left in the pan from cooking the sausage and searing the chicken, makes a flavorful sauce. First, cook the vegetables that will take time: onions, garlic, peppers, and mushrooms. Once the peppers and onions wilt, add the chicken and sausage, the chopped tarragon and oregano, and the black olives.  It looks like the sauce will not be enough, but the vegetables, chicken, and sausage "spring their own water,"  as we say in Jamaica. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, if the chicken breasts have been cut up into thirds, and 10-15 minutes for whole. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with hot cooked rice. Cooking with fresh herbs is amazing!

3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, cut into strips
1 sweet yellow pepper, cut into strips
8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced thickly
1/2 large sweet onion, sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, leaves only, chopped
1/2 cup chopped black olives
Salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro chicken with Italian sausage and black olives

Broccoli Cheese Pie

 Preheat the oven to 350˚F and spray a 9 inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Sprinkle with whole wheat breadcrumbs and tilt the plate to coat the bottom and sides.

 Add eggs, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. And I forgot to add one thing. Do you know what it is yet?

 Chop the onion, ham and broccoli florets. Blanch the florets in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold running water to stop the cooking process and to keep that bright green color.

 Add 2 slices of cubed bread to the egg mixture. Still don't know what I forgot yet. Hmm. I used the Texas Toast bread I bought at Trader Joe's to make the breading for the center cut pork chops. I froze the rest of the loaf and just take out what I need.

 Fry the onions and ham until the onions are wilted and fragrant. Yum.

 Combine the bread-egg mixture with the blanched broccoli and the ham and onions. Still haven't figured out what I forgot yet?

 No, it's not the cheese. I remembered that.

 Doesn't it look dry? Yikes. I forgot the milk! I poured everything out and added the milk to the mixture. This meant I had to wash and dry the pie plate. Then spray it again with cooking spray and dust it with breadcrumbs. Then I poured the mixture back into the plate and as an after thought, sprinkled the top with seasoning salt. Then I put the pie in the oven. And crossed my fingers.

 After 50 minutes in the oven, the eggs had set and the top was golden brown.

 This is why I like glass plates. I can see the sides and the bottom. I let the pie rest for 5 minutes before cutting it into wedges.

 The broccoli cheese pie makes a great breakfast by itself or, if served with a side of salad becomes a light brunch or lunch.

Of course, you have to serve it with Sriracha Sauce on the side. Everything tastes better if it burns the palate. Here's the list of ingredients, and if you forget the milk, you can always add it at the last minute!

Broccoli Cheese Pie (from: eating well.com)
2 tablespoons whole wheat bread crumbs
cooking spray
4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (This is too conservative. Feel free to add more)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 1/4 cups zero percent milk
2 cups cubed bread (the hearty kind, as America's Test Kitchen likes to point out)
3 cups broccoli florets
1/3 cup diced sliced ham (Canadian bacon in the original recipe)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup grated Cheddar-Jack cheeses (can substitute any low fat low calorie cheeses)
Seasoning salt, optional