special guest suggestion - Aunt Donna's Apple Cider Chicken

After cooking up a storm at the old homestead a few weeks back, I got an email from Aunt Donna -

So far all your recipes look soooo delicious.  Your thumbprint cookies were to die for, one pound of butter really?  Unfortunately they don't really fit in with my Weight Watchers.  I will take it upon myself to educate you to the wonders of healthier foods.

tasty looking dish, aunt donna... let's see if i can recreate it!

True, a lot of my recipes aren't the healthiest and I do use an awful lot of butter, but I like to eat well and keep my body happy and healthy, too.  So I took Aunt Donna's advice and whipped up her healthy suggestion.  It sounded good enough and I since I'm all about apples at the moment, I gave it a shot.

cider braised chicken with sweet potatoes and sage

ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless thighs

2 c fat free reduced sodium chicken broth (ok I cheated. I used regular chicken broth because this sounded wrong to me!)

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 c apple cider (fresh from the green market, as always!)

8 medium shallots

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 clove minced garlic

6 fresh sage leaves

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, cubed

directions

1. Season both sides of chicken with s&p.  Heat oil and brown chicken on both sides; remove from pan and set aside.

2. Add thickly sliced shallots to pan and saute until soft.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add chicken broth, cider, vinegar, sage and thyme to pan, scraping the sides to loosen any stuck-on bits.  Bring to a boil and allow sauce to reduce and slightly thicken.

3. Add chicken and sweet potatoes.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 30 minutes.  One chicken thigh and about 3/4 cup veggies per serving is about 8 WW points served alongside some couscous.

Again, I cheated and definitely ate more than one piece of chicken, but I won't tell you how many servings I gobbled up!  My version was served up with some market fresh brussel sprouts sauteed simply in salt & pepper and toasted hazelnuts... and bacon fat; I just couldn't live without it.  But the meal really was wonderful, flavorful, seasonal and, most importantly, simple!  Just like Aunt Donna promised, "IT WAS DELICIOUS!"  Thank you for the recipe suggestion and please, keep them coming.