Chicken & Zucchini Skillet

Serves 4 Active Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes

This is a great one-skillet meal that you can endlessly customize with vegetables and spices. Silky zucchini, briny capers, and salty Parmesan cheese is my current go-to-but feel free to swap in broccoli or bell peppers for the zucchini, or, if you crave heat, sub pickled pepperoncini and a teaspoon of chili flakes for the capers and oregano. We love eating this dish over rice, tossed with cooked pasta, or all on its own.

INGREDIENTS 

• 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

• 2 teaspoons dried oregano

  The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook: 125 Recipes Enhanced with Mediterranean Flavors Yumna Jawad

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• ½ teaspoon salt, divided

• ½ teaspoon black pepper, divided

• 2 tablespoons (¼ stick) salted butter, divided

• 1 small yellow onion, diced

• ¼ cup capers, with their brine

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 medium zucchinis (about 1 pound), halved and thinly sliced

• ¼ cup grated Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS 

1. In a large bowl, season the chicken with the oregano, onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper. Set aside.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, until lightly browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Stir the chicken and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and lightly browned all over, 7 to 10 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

3. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, capers with their brine, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the onion has softened and the caper brine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the zucchini and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

5. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the reserved chicken. Sprinkle everything with the Parmesan.

Excerpted from THE FEEL GOOD FOODIE COOKBOOK by Yumna Jawad. Copyright © 2024 by Yumna Jawad. Used by permission of Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.  All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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