Quick Chicken Recipe Unites East, West Flavors

Regardless of the name, don’t think of this recipe as something so exotic that it couldn’t possibly qualify for a weeknight supper. Preparation and cooking takes less than 30 minutes.

The chicken carries a hint of the Asian in the soy sauce and sesame seeds. Otherwise, it is Americanized enough to suit the kids.

Ramen noodles are recommended as an accompanying starch, but use them as a quickcooking pasta rather than a soup. Three minutes in boiling water is all it takes. The flavor packet doesn’t contain anything of nutritional value, so if you want to flavor the noodles, sprinkle with just a bit of the spice blend.

Also serve a vegetable medley that has a hint of such Oriental veggies as snap peas, water chestnuts and mushrooms.

Frozen vegetables are a convenience, since the cleaning and chopping is already done. I was absolutely sold on them when I learned that frozen vegetables retain more nutritional value than produce that is available outside of the height of its season.

A real simple dessert is fresh sliced oranges that have been tossed with a drizzle of Amaretto, and then topped with crunchy toasted almonds. The toasting really brings out the nuts’ flavor, and this can be done quickly in a toaster oven with a single toasting session.

East Meets West Chicken Breasts

4 (4-to-6 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1 cups fresh bread crumbs (from about 2 slices whole grain or white bread)

Sauce:

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon horseradish

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a flat baking sheet with a baking rack.

Flatten chicken breasts so that they are even and are no thicker than inch.

Mix yogurt and soy sauce in a shallow bowl. Mix sesame seeds and bread crumbs on a small plate. Dip each chicken breast half in the yogurt-soy mixture and then roll in the bread-crumb mixture to coat. Place on baking rack.

Bake for 15 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, mix the raspberry preserves, soy and horseradish together in a small bowl. The sauce may be served at room temperature or heated until warm in the microwave (about 45 seconds on 100 percent power.)

To serve, place a chicken breast on each plate and drizzle with the raspberry sauce.

Yield: 4 servings.