Day 20: Tomato Basil Chicken

This recipe was sent to me by my cousins, Christie and Dawn, shortly after I began this blog. Christie's exact words were, "we made this tonight, it was insanely easy, took about 20 min, and we already can't wait to have the leftovers, thought you might wanna try it out." I looked at the recipe on allrecipes.com and decided that it sounded right up my alley: tomato soup, garlic, basil. Yum!

Although, it does bring up one of my very weird food issues. I hate tomatoes, but I love tomato soup and tomato sauce. So, you could say that I only like tomatoes in pureed, cooked form except for the fact that I also enjoy brushetta. I think because it is really well disguised under a sea of garlic and olive oil. Who knows? But a raw tomato on a hamburger grosses me out. I cannot even pick them off because the seeds and juices have left remnants.

Paul loves tomatoes, but hates tomato soup. I cannot even entice him to eat it on a cold, rainy day with a toasty grilled cheese sandwich. I hoped that the other flavors in this recipe would hide the soup from him, but ultimately I decided that I had taken several hits for the team(feta, spinach, ricotta) and that it was time for him to man up and try tomato soup...in sauce form. He never complained about the soup being part of the recipe as he watched me make it which I was really happy about. But, would he enjoy it?

Tomato Basil Chicken
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Campbells-Kitchen-Tomato-Basil-Chicken/Detail.aspx

Kitchen Play by Play: This really is as easy as the directions sound. No major issues or screw ups. I did read some of the reviews though and many people said to add extra garlic powder. I did 1/2 teaspoon instead of 1/4. I also cooked the chicken in the sauce more than 5 minutes because I am crazy chicken girl. I think that the cooking time will vary anyway depending upon the size of your breasts. Hehe!! By cooking the chicken longer, the sauce also had more time to thicken which is a bonus in my book. I guess you could take the chicken out while the sauce simmers if you don't want overcooked chicken. I served mine over the noodles and topped it with freshly grated Parmesan. We had green beans on the side too. I should have made garlic bread, but I forgot.

The Finished ProductThe Verdict:
Nicole- This is a case of the dish tasting better than it looks. It looks kinda blah in my pic, but it tasted pretty yummy. For as easy as it was, I didn't expect much, but I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. It is the perfect recipe for when time is limited. Super easy and super fast. Really cheap too. If you can get chicken on sale, this recipe costs under $10.00 and feeds 3-4 adults. I give it a 4. Welcome to the recipe box. Thanks, Christie and Dawn!

Paul-gives it a 3. " It had good flavor, and the chicken was moist. It was good, but there was no WOW factor."

Austin-ate the noodles covered in the sauce and a few bites of chicken. He ate almost all of his green beans too. He loves his veggies!!