Apricot Smothered Seared Chicken

This is delightful! I found this on eatingwell.com in their 500 calorie or less chicken dinner menu archive! SO, SO tasty. Sweet and savory. We served it with some spinach and brown rice and Nick declared, "It's a keeper!" I must say, it has been quite awhile since I've heard those words come out of his mouth in regards to my cooking. Anyways, here is the recipe!

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts- I only used 3- but really you just need 1 per person!
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 4 fresh apricots, pitted and chopped
• 2 tablespoons apricot preserves
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon , or 1/2 teaspoon dried

Directions

• Place chicken breasts between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Pound until flattened to an even thickness, about 1/2 inch or a little larger. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Place flour on a large plate or shallow dish. Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off excess. (Discard any leftover flour.)
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned and no longer pink in the center, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover and keep warm. (If necessary, cook the chicken in two batches with an additional 1 tablespoon oil.) To be honest, I didn't like how slow it was cooking in the skillet, so after about 5 minutes per side, I popped them in the oven at 350 and let them finish baking for about 10 minutes while I did the next step!

• Off the heat, add wine and shallot to the pan. Return to medium heat and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Add apricots and cook until the fruit begins to break down, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in preserves, tarragon and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Return the chicken to the pan and cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve the chicken with the sauce.

• On this last step, I just pulled them right out of the oven, placed the chicken in the pan to let it soak up some of the juice in the sauce and then smothered them when I put them on our plates. 

I already cannot wait to have this meal again! Try it out, and enjoy!!