Simple Sunday Night Dinner: Herbed Chicken, Stringbean Salad, and Cous Cous

This past weekend, the entire east coast was on high alert for Hurricane Irene, which was supposed to be the largest storm to hit the region in quite some time. I was very lucky here in Washington, DC that we had minimal damage - just some fallen branches and general messiness. Regardless, I'm happy to use any excuse to stay in on the weekends to regroup from the work week and experiment with new recipes.

On Saturday night, I made Moroccan-style braised lentils and a pitiful excuse for yeastless bread. The dish (minus the bread) was a success - let me know if you want the recipe. Sunday night's dinner was much more notable. I made herbed chicken breast with string bean salad and cous cous. It was exactly the "homey" meal I was looking for after the storm...

Herbed Chicken Breast

• 1 lb organic chicken breast with skin
• Fair share of fresh "poultry mix" herbs - sage, rosemary, and thyme
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

Place the chicken breast in an oven-safe bowl and cover both sides with herbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Let marinate in fridge for at least an hour (I recommend 4-6 hours).

Once you're ready to cook the chicken, pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat a cast iron skillet on the stove and add a bit of olive oil. Sear each side of the chicken for 3-4 minutes, starting with the skinned side. Place the chicken on the baking sheet and cook for an additional 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

String Bean Salad

• Two handfuls of fresh string beans - ends removed (sorry, I never weigh my veggies)
• 1 quarter red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Pepper to taste
• Ice water

Boil 2 cups of water. Once boiling, cook string beans for 4-5 minutes until they begin to soften. Remove beans from the boiling water, and place in ice water for an additional 5 minutes. This allows you to cook the beans while maintaining their crispness.

Once the beans are cooled, remove from water and mix with onion, tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper.

Cous Cous: from a box :)

Ease of Cooking: 8/10...all three parts of this meal were very simple. Minimal ingredients but still fresh and full of flavor. The longest part is waiting on the marinating chicken but if you plan ahead, it won't seem like a minute has gone by.

Leftover Potential: 2/10...unless you aren't very hungry, this meal is pretty much a one time deal. I had a very string beans left over but they could have easily been devoured that night.

Overall: 8/10...would absolutely make this again. It's easy but still has the essence of a gourmet meal.