Return to Hot Chicken (Chicken with artichokes and basil pearled couscous)

I'm not the only one who cooks in the household, contrary to popular belief. In addition to being a world-famous criminologist, the Sweet Partner in Crime is pretty handy around the kitchen. After all she did get me interested in many things culinary and introduced me to the notion that a house without wine is like a house without a heat source. Sure, you could live there, but why would you want to?

We do have an understanding that maintains peace in the valley. Over the years, we've learned that our cooking styles do not exactly mesh. In fact, unless the two of us come to an agreement on the division of labor, we try (for the most part) to avoid being in the kitchen together. I tend to be a bit...free...with the number of utensils, pots, pans, and other such implements of destruction I'll use in the course of meal preparation. If we try cooking together, I'll go to pick up the spoon I've been stirring a sauce with, only to find that she's put it in the dishwasher while my back was turned. She's a more efficient cook.

Also, she's a much better "throw together" cook than I am. Most of what I know about "non-recipe" cooking's come from her. Give my sweetie a pantry full of random ingredients, some veggies, and a spice or two, and you've got a simple dinner. To wit...if you want to follow what she ended up doing with this amalgamation, here's what we had:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Frozen artichoke quarters
• A lemon, sliced thinly
• A plum tomato, chopped
• 2 tsp capers
• Basil, oregano, garlic to taste
• 1/3 c. white wine, 1/3 c. chicken broth
• Box of Near East "basil pearled couscous" mix

Thaw everything. Preheat oven to 400. Pour some olive oil (which I leave off ingredient lists all the time...it's a staple like salt and pepper) over the chicken and sprinkle with spices. Put in a roasting pan and add the white wine & chicken broth to the pan. Lay the lemon slices across the top. Top with the capers, artichokes, and tomato. Salt and pepper the lot. Roast for around 30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken.

Meanwhile, make the couscous. The SPinC discovered that this particular type of couscous is much more labor intensive than the "boil water, dump in couscous, stir, remove from heat, let sit" normal method, so plan accordingly. When chicken is done, add pan juices to couscous. Mix.

Plate it up. Pour some fruity, easy drinking white wine. Chow down.

Start to finish: Under an hour