Artichoke Chicken

A while back, our friends Jeremy and Julia had us over for dinner. Julia cooked this awesome dish she called Artichoke Chicken, and before we left, I asked her to write down the recipe for me. The thing is, I haven't really made this dish a lot, because, unfortunately for me, Nathan doesn't really like artichokes.

However, I adore artichokes. It's one of those items that I relish ordering when we're out, because I so rarely eat them at home. So one day, after having gone through my recipe box looking for some inspiration, I decided I was dadgum going to make the artichoke chicken, regardless of the fact that Nathan didn't really care for the star ingredient. I figured he could just pick the artichoke hearts out.

So a couple of months ago, I made this recipe, and probably the best thing that came out of that dinner was that Nathan announced that he liked artichokes, after all. This lovely dish converted him. After tweaking the recipe to Laurenize it, I made it again last night, and oh my. It is so yummy.

I should tell you that part of my tweaking involved doubling the amount of artichokes, lemon, and white wine called for. Actually, I'm wondering if that might have something to do with my altered pregnancy taste buds. Although I guess Nathan would tell me if there was overkill in one category or another.

In any case, this recipe is so good. It's on the tart and salty side because of the artichokes, but I love that. I even think that it'd be good with a few capers thrown in.

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Artichoke Chicken

1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 chicken breasts (thin--I pound mind a bit to even them out and make them thin enough to cook quickly)
2/3 cup dry white wine
4 oz. sun-dried tomatoes
2 cans quartered artichoke hearts
1 lemon

Mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in the flour mixture to coat. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and sauté for 3-4 minutes per side.

Add the wine, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichokes to the pan. Squeeze the lemon over the chicken and cook for 2-4 more minutes.

(I actually have to do the whole thing in two batches because I don't have a pan big enough to accommodate all the chicken. It still comes out great. Just do whatcha gotta do.)

Serve with buttered pasta. I also serve it with a green veggie, such as peas.