Chicken Breasts with Capsicum

September 24, 2002

It's good to see companies constantly extending their product ranges and taking heed of the trend towards healthier eating.

Butchers are trimming excess fat from meat, there is an overwhelming array of breakfast cereals with reduced salt, sugar and fat, the five a day fruit and vegetable promotions are featured everywhere. We are gradually removing the stodge from our diets.

I've been using light sour cream for some time now, particularly mixed with finely chopped spring onions and spooned onto a baked potato.

Baked potatoes can be a bit of a hit and miss affair when you're not certain if your purchase is a waxy potato or a floury one. Recently I came across a box of potatoes labelled for baking. They were the Norkotah variety and were all a nice even shape, ideal for jacket potatoes. And they were excellent - light and floury.

It was a bonus to discover a 98% fat free line of sour cream at the supermarket. While not as smooth as the full fat variety, being of a slightly yoghurty consistency, the flavour was there and it was just perfect with our baked potatoes and contained only 14 calories for a 25g serving.

We eat a lot of chicken, particularly chicken breasts. I usually buy them with the skin on and then lift the skin and place in some form of stuffing with the idea of retaining the moisture in the meat and adding some flavouring.

Recently we took a drive up the coast from Wellington to see what had been happening up that way in the three years we were away in the south. Unlike Christchurch which is blessed with local market gardens, the Wellington ones are a bit farther afield. It was good to be able to call in at the garden shops along the highway and pick up some fresh produce.

With coloured peppers selling at top prices in the city, I was pleased to pick up a bargain bag of mixed ones. And so, when I looked in the refrigerator for culinary inspiration, there was the low fat sour cream and peppers.

Chicken Breasts with Capsicum

4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on
100g sour cream - light or 2% fat
1 spring onion, finely chopped
2 red peppers
Pre-mixed seasoning - I used Tuscan herb seasoning
4 tomatoes
4 small sprigs mint and basil

Mix together the sour cream, chopped spring onion and two tablespoons chopped red pepper. Lift the skin from the chicken breast to form a pocket and spoon in a quarter of the sour cream mix.

Place the chicken breasts in a shallow ovenproof dish.

Remove the cores from the tomatoes and push a sprig of basil and mint into each. Place in the dish with the chicken and cut the remaining red peppers into thick strips.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and bake for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.