The Busy Night Lifesaver Meal Plan

Wednesday is the busiest day at my house. My husband's always gets home from work a little later, as Wednesday is CSA food pick-up day. Bad timing, since my weekly knitting group meets at 6:30. Add the mid-week malaise and the last thing anyone wants to do is cook. We're lucky if we can exchange a five-minute conversation, let alone dinner.

This recipe for Mediterranean Chicken originally appeared in Martha Stewart Living. We can't make a nutritionally dicey boxed dinner in the time it takes to create this fresh, delicious, healthy feast that combines many of my family's favorite flavors. We pair it with fast-cooking whole-wheat couscous with a handful of crumbled feta. This meal has bailed us out on many Wednesday nights, and will be doing so again this week.

The simple techniques in the recipe lead to a multitude of possibilities. One of these Wednesdays I'll try this with tilapia instead of chicken. Or pork. Maybe even lamb chops and a little mint. During the summer, I'll gladly replace the grape tomatoes with slices of fresh, locally-grown tomatoes, whose juices should caramelize beautifully in the oven.

Mediterranean Chicken
Serves 4

• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 16 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
  
• 3 tablespoons drained capers, rinsed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 boneless chicken breasts with the skin on (although I always use skinless and it's still yummy).
• Coarse salt
• Freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Toss tomatoes, olives, capes, and 2 tablespoons olive oil together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat until hot. Add remaining tablespoon of oil; heat until hot but not smoking. Place chicken in the skillet, skin side down; cook until deep golden brown, about 4 minutes. Turn chicken over. Add tomato mixture to skillet.
3. Transfer skillet to oven. Roast until chicken is cooked through and tomatoes have softened, about 18 minutes.