Braised Chicken with Mushrooms, Artichokes, and Almond-Olive Relish
Editor’s Note: This recipe was selected as part of a partnership between Beyond Type 1 and Sun Basket, an active partner of Beyond Type 1 at the time of publication, as a yummy way to eat and live well with Type 1 diabetes. It was developed by nutritionists at Sun Basket as a lower-carb and well-balanced meal. Sign up here to try Sun Basket.
This one-pan chicken dinner combines juicy chicken thighs with luscious mushrooms and artichokes, topped with a briny almond-olive relish.
¾ ounce sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil)
1 red onion
3 ounces button mushrooms
1 lemon
2 to 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 10 ounces total)
⅓ cup cooked quartered artichoke hearts
Herb blend (dried oregano—dried thyme)
¼ pound baby spinach
2 tablespoons roasted almonds
½ ounce pitted Kalamata olives
3 or 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
1) Soak the sun-dried tomatoes
- In a small bowl, soak the sun-dried tomatoes in 1 cup very hot water until softened, 10 to 15 minutes.
While the sun-dried tomatoes soak, prepare the vegetables and lemon.
2) Prep the vegetables and lemon
- Peel and coarsely chop the red onion.
- Cut the mushrooms into quarters.
- Remove the sun-dried tomatoes, reserving the soaking liquid. Coarsely chop any large tomatoes.
- Zest and juice the lemon, keeping the zest and juice separate. Set aside the zest for the almond-olive relish.
3) Cook the braise
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel; season generously with salt and pepper.
In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon oil until hot but not smoking. Add the chicken and cook, without turning, until browned on one side but not yet cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the chicken, add the onion and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are lightly browned and starting to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes and their soaking liquid, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the liquid reduces slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the herb blend and season with salt and pepper. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the spinach. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
While the chicken and vegetables simmer, prepare the almond-olive relish.
4) Make the almond-olive relish
- Coarsely chop the almonds.
- Coarsely chop the olives.
- Strip the parsley leaves from the stems; coarsely chop the leaves.
In another small bowl, stir together the almonds, olives, parsley, lemon zest, and 1 to 2 tablespoons oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5) Serve
Makes 2 servings
