Do you like green bean casserole? Want to turn it into a whole meal? This is basically that but with the addition of quickly braised chicken and no canned soup! It’s got all the cozy flavors we crave this time of year and eats richly but is fairly light. Chicken thighs would be really good and probably better than chicken breasts in this recipe. However, breasts were what I had on hand so that’s what I made. Do either, but be careful not to overcook the breasts or they will be dry…argh.
What you need:
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb of uncooked chicken breasts cut into tenders or boneless/skinless chicken thighs
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper
1/2 sliced small yellow onion
1 cup of sliced cremini mushrooms
1 cup of hericot vert or small green beans (fresh or thawed frozen beans are fine)
1 cup of chicken broth
1/4 cup of white wine
1/4 cup of half and half or cream
1/2 cup fried onions (French’s are quite salty so be aware of this when salting the recipe, Lars have less sodium and are great if you can find them)
Begin by patting your chicken dry with a paper towel and lightly sprinkling with salt and pepper and then rubbing in the dried rosemary and parsley. Warm the butter and olive oil in a large skillet and add the chicken when its sizzling. Toss in the onions and spread around the skillet. Do not disturb for about 3 minutes so it browns nicely and then flip over the chicken and do the same. After its seared on both sides remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.
Next add the mushrooms and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and lightly brown them stirring occasionally. Add the white wine and broth and bring to a rolling boil to cook off the alcohol from the wine. After a minute or two, bring down to a very low simmer (very gentle infrequent bubbles). When its cooled down enough slowly pour in the cream and mix rapidly. You don’t want to add the cream when the sauce is too hot or it will curdle. Allow the cream to slowly increase in temperature and bring back to simmering. Now place the chicken back in the pan and fill in empty space with the green beans. Just tuck them in and spoon over the sauce. Place a lid over the top and allow to simmer gently for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is finished cooking. Remove the lid and sprinkle fried onions over the top. Serve with brown or wild rice or alongside potatoes. Enjoy!
