Excellent Tuscan chicken and beans recipe
By Mark Czerniec
November 12, 2006 9:31 AM

After a couple of days near 70°F. last week, cold weather is back in southeastern Wisconsin this weekend, so we're turning to hearty, savory dinners. Beef is on the menu tonight, and Friday there was a veal meat loaf, so I wanted something lighter in between — but still something that would warm my belly and the kitchen and make the house smell good. Ideally, it would also be cheap and as easy as all get-out.

I hit the bull's-eye at Epicurious when I found Tuscan Chicken with Warm Bean Salad. The Tuscans, you see, also have to combat the chill this time of year, and this dish is a great defense.

It's simply chicken pieces, lemon and plenty of garlic, plus the aroma of rosemary (get the fresh stuff, it makes a big difference). The chicken first goes into the fridge to let the flavors work in, then into the oven to roast with a little broiling at the end. In the last 15 minutes or so, the cannellini cook in a skillet on the stove. Amy added a 28-ounce can of peeled tomatoes, drained and quartered, to the bean recipe, which made it even better. The beans get plated first, the chicken goes on top, and you spoon the pan juices over it all. Presto!

We each grabbed a little hunk of Tuscan-style bread for sopping, plus a glass of wine (a chianti would have been nice, but we already had our fallback cheapo Sutter Home Zinfandel, $6 per double-bottle). Our low-cost dinner was easy, warming, great-smelling, and delicious — and it also went well with our Netflix rental, Fellini's Nights of Cabiria (1957). As Borat would say, "King (and queen) of the castle!"