Chicken and Asparagus with White Wine Sauce

If you've never cooked with wine for one reason or another, you really should expand your horizons and give it a try. It may be intimidating at first, trying to figure out what kind of wine...red or white, Cabernet or Merlot? Pinot Gris or Chardonnay? While I prefer drinking reds over whites, I do more cooking with whites. Probably because I use it with chicken, soups, sauces and it works well with those.

This dish is super easy and you'll be amazed at how good it tastes. This takes maybe a half hour to prepare and uses just a few ingredients. So this is great for working moms/wives/bloggers like me who some days just don't want to slave for hours in the kitchen.

I like to use a nice Sauvignon Blanc for this. Chardonnay is too buttery/oakey/dry (do I sound like a wine-snob or what?) for this recipe, and so I go for the $8-$9 bottle of SB, they are usually pretty decent in that range. Lucky for me, I live in the proverbial 'wine belt' of the United States and the selection is pretty darn good.

Chicken and Asparagus with White Wine Sauce

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry
3-4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 lb. Asparagus, rinsed, dried and ends trimmed
Parmesan cheese

In a bowl, combine flour, salt, paprika and pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge chicken in flour mixture and add to hot oil. Cover and cook approximately 7 minutes. Turn chicken, cover and continue cooking until cooked through - approximately 7 more minutes and each side is brown and crispy. Remove chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Keep skillet over heat and with a spoon, scrape up bits from the bottom of the skillet and add wine and chicken broth stirring well. Add asparagus. Cover and cook until asparagus is slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. Uncover and grate some Parmesan over the asparagus and let cook for another minute.

On individual plates, put one chicken breast, asparagus and spoon over some of the wine sauce from the pan. Top with additional grated Parmesan cheese. Fabulous.