Maple pecan chicken is the ultimate weeknight meal

Linda Gassenheimer

Dinner in five minutes? Yes.

Doctor up roasted or rotisserie chicken breasts with a maple syrup glaze and add broken pecans for extra flavour and crunch. Maple syrup gives a sweet glaze over the cooked chicken breasts, which take only three minutes to warm through.

Hot Pepper Succotash is a spicy, quick version of this American staple. Succotash is a dish Native Americans made from the corn and beans they grew side by side in their fields. When they harvested the patch, they cooked the vegetables together and called it succotash, their word for “hodgepodge.”

Helpful hints

• Any type of boneless cooked chicken can be used including chicken strips, or heat up leftover chicken or turkey.

• Walnuts or pistachios can be substituted for pecans.

Countdown

• Place succotash in microwave.

• While succotash cooks, make chicken dish.

MAPLE PECAN CHICKEN

Ingredients

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon canola oil

Vegetable oil spray

10 ounces cooked or rotisserie boneless, skinless chicken breast

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped unsalted pecans

Method

1. Mix maple syrup and canola oil together.

2. Heat a nonstick skillet, just big enough to hold chicken in one layer, over medium-high heat.

3. Spray with olive oil spray and add chicken, cover with a lid. Sauté 2 minutes. Turn and sauté, covered, 1 minute.

4. Remove skillet from heat and pour maple syrup mixture over chicken. Turn chicken over in the sauce and place on two dinner plates. Pour remaining sauce over chicken. Sprinkle pecans on top.

HOT PEPPER SUCCOTASH

Ingredients

2 tablespoons hot pepper jelly

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1 cup frozen lima beans

Method

1. Place all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a plate or plastic wrap. Microwave on high 2 minutes. Toss well.

2. Stove-top method: Place hot pepper jelly, corn and lima beans in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté 3 minutes. The vegetables only need to be warmed through

Tribune News Service