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I got this recipe from my beloved Aunt Marion who cut it out of the Mobile, Alabama, newspaper (then the Press, now the Press Register) many, many years ago. The original called for a whole chicken and 1-1/4 pounds of tomatoes (about 4 cups). I changed the chicken to boneless, skinless breasts; reduced the tomato; added some olive oil and chicken broth to make up for the fat from the chicken; and voila.

I've got notes at the end about the red pepper and the tomato and about making this for two or six.

Sicilian Chicken
Serves 4

Herb Mix Ingredients
1 Tablespoon basil leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (I use 1/4 teaspoon; I'd leave it out entirely but my DH likes it)
1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

All The Other Ingredients
Pam or other cooking spray
Potatoes - 5 Russet, 8-10 Yukon Gold, or equivalent of any kind you like
1/4 cup fat-free chicken broth OR 1/4 cup white wine (I prefer the chicken broth)
2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice (a half to a whole lemon)
1 medium tomato ( you can use more if you tolerate them well)
4 teaspoons olive oil (you can probably use less)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine all herb mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Spray baking dish with Pam. The original recipe called for a 13x9x2 inch pan; I use my 10x10x1-3/4 inch Corning ware with domed lid.

4. Peel potatoes and slice about 1/8 -1/4 inch thick. Layer potatoes in bottom of baking dish.

5. Pour chicken broth or wine over potatoes. Pour lemon juice over potatoes.

6. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of herb mix over potatoes.

7. Slice tomato about 1/8 inch thick. Layer tomato over potatoes.

8. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of herb mix over tomato.

9. Get the olive oil on the chicken, about 1 teaspoon per breast. You can do this the elegant way by brushing it on or you can do it my way: Put the olive oil in a dinner plate. Take each chicken breast, lay it in the plate, swish it around a little, then turn it over and swish it around again. Lift it out and let the excess oil run off. You're basically "dredging" the chicken in the oil.

10. Lay chicken on top of tomatoes. Sprinkle the remaining herb mix evenly over the chicken pieces. Rub it in a little. (If you want, you can rub it into both sides of the chicken.)

11. Put the lid on (or cover dish with aluminum foil), put it in the oven, and bake for an hour total, basting occasionally. I bake for 30 minutes, baste, bake for 15 more minutes, baste, then bake for the final 15 minutes UNcovered.

Notes:

crushed red pepper - I actually have a spice called "Red Chile Pepper - Crushed" that I use.

tomato - If my tummy is feeling touchy, I still put the tomato in, but I scrape it off to the side of my plate, so I get the flavor but don't eat it. If my tummy is feeling really touchy, I put the tomato in but keep it all on one side of the dish - then I get the part of the dish where the tomato isn't. If you really have trouble with tomato, you could try peeling it and/or de-seeding it. I'm not sure how the dish would taste if you left it out completely.

If I'm making this for just me and my DH, I use 2 chicken breast halves (3 if I want leftover chicken) and 2 (or 3) teaspoons of olive oil, but leave the amount of the other ingredients the same. This means I have enough left over for a nice lunch for 2. I put the leftovers in a pot, add a little more chicken broth, and heat it up over a low flame. (I don't own a microwave.) If I made the extra chicken breast, I chop that into little pieces before I heat it up.

When I made this for 6 once, I used 6 chicken breast halves and 6 teaspoons of olive oil and doubled everything else.

Here's the Fat Math. For packaged stuff like the chicken broth, I used the values from the packages. For fresh stuff, like the chicken, I used the values from "The Complete Book of Food Counts" by Corinne T. Netzer. I'm including the breakdown here because I still don't feel totally comfortable doing the math.

Fat Math: 18% of calories from fat

Total recipe: 1180 calories, 210 from fat
Per serving: 295 calories, 53 from fat

No calories and no fat from the herb mix.
No calories and no fat from the Pam.
Potatoes: 285 calories, 5 from fat
Chicken broth: 3 calories, 0 from fat
Lemon juice: 12 calories, 0 from fat
Tomato: 24 calories, 3 from fat
Olive oil: 160 calories, 160 from fat
Chicken: 696 calories, 42 from fat (assuming each breast is about 4 ounces)

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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