Chicken Dinner

For the longest time I thought I hated tomatoes, period.  Until the day Jason asked me if I hated all tomatoes why did I LOVE red sauce on my pasta and happily gobble up ketchup?

*insert moment of clarity here*

So for many years I avoided tomato soup, sun dried tomatoes, baked tomatoes....when in reality it's raw tomatoes that make me gag.  So I have been playing catch up with tomato soup because it's one of my new favorite soups ever.  I eat it whenever possible and hopefully going to attempt to make it from scratch at one point this fall/winter.

For dinner last night I tried Campbell's recipes for Tomato-Basil Chicken & Tomato-Basil Zucchini.

Tomato-Basil Chicken

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 of a 1-pound package medium tube-shaped pasta (ziti), cooked according to package directions (about 4 cups)

• Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook or 10 minutes until it's well browned on both sides.
• Stir the soup, milk, cheese, basil and garlic powder in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with the pasta.

 Tomato-Basil Zucchini

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup (Regular or Healthy Request®)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

4 medium zucchini, sliced (about 6 cups)

1 small green pepper, cut into 2-inch strips (about 1 cup)

1 large onion, sliced (about 1 cup)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

• Heat the soup, lemon juice, basil, garlic powder, zucchini, pepper and onion in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cheese.

Soooooo easy!  I did cut the chicken into cubes instead of keeping the entire breast whole because I served it over the pasta.  I was originally going to serve the zucchini as a side dish but ended up putting that on top of the noodles as well as the chicken.  I did season the chicken with Mrs. Dash - Tomato Basil Garlic seasoning and rubbed it in before cooking to give the chicken a bit more flavor.  I would make this dish again but I would marinate the chicken prior to cooking to give it a bit more zip.