ChezCindy: Sautéed Chicken with Caramelized Onions & Sundried Tomatoes

 

The meal you see pictured above started out to be sautéed chicken with polenta, caramelized onions and sundried tomatoes.  Sounds good, right?  Along the way it morphed into no polenta, but roasted acorn squash.  You are probably thinking, that's a big jump.  I often roast vegetables to simply have available in the refrigerator any time I want to add vegetables to my meals.  As I was sautéing the onions and sundried tomatoes, the acorn squash was ready to come out of the oven.  It looked so good, I decided to skip the polenta and serve the squash with the onions and tomatoes.  So, there you go.  I still think the polenta would have been a good side dish to the chicken with the onions and sundried tomatoes.  Your choice.  

Here's how I put it together.

Roasted Acorn Squash

2 medium acorn squash

2 tablespoons olive oil 

kosher salt

dried Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut each squash into quarters.  Remove the seeds and discard.  Using a sheet pan with sides, lining it with parchment paper, place the squash quarters cut-side up onto the sheet pan.  Drizzle the oil over the squash.  Sprinkle with salt and dried Italian seasoning.  Place the sheet pan into the hot oven, roasting the squash for 35-40 minutes until tender.  During the last 5 minutes of roasting time, add the tablespoon of butter, dividing a bit into the cavity of each squash quarter.  Remove from the oven, setting aside to cook the rest of the meal.  

Caramelized Onions and Sundried Tomatoes

2 medium onions, sliced thinly

3 tablespoons sundried tomatoes, packed in oil

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Working with a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to the hot pan.  Swirl to combine in the hot pan.  Add the sliced onions to the pan, sprinkle with the teaspoon of salt, stirring the onions into the oil/butter into an even layer.  Cook the onions until they begin to wilt down, about 5-6 minutes.  Lower the heat to medium.  Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the onions are browned and fully wilted into a bit of a jam.  This will take about 15-20 minutes.  Add in the sundried tomatoes, stirring to combine and to heat the tomatoes.  Remove the onions and tomatoes from the pan to a bowl.  Set aside.  Continue on with the chicken.  

Sautéed Chicken

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts - thin filets

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt

Parmesan Cheese, finely grated

Working with the same skillet over medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt.  Add the olive oil to the skillet.  Place the seasoned chicken filets into the hot skillet.  Cooking until golden brown on the first side.  Turn over to cook side two until the chicken is fully cooked through to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.  

Putting it all together: Serve the dinner on a large platter or prepare individual plates.  Place the chicken onto the plate, add the acorn squash.   Spoon a generous portion of the caramelized onions and sundried tomatoes over the chicken and squash.  Grate Parmesan cheese over all.  Serve and enjoy.