Chicken w/ Cherry-Apricot Sauce
adapted from Cooking Light

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders
Olive oil
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper
1 cup frozen pitted cherries, thawed
1/4 cup apricot jam or preserves
2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp rice vinegar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Using a meat tenderizer or small frying pan, pound chicken between two pieces of wax paper until about 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick. Season on both sides with salt and black pepper. Heat about 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook about 5-6 minutes on each side, until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink. Set aside and keep warm.

In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add to hot skillet, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Heat until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes or until sauce is warmed through. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

I prefer to slice the chicken first, then pour the sauce over top.

The original recipe from Cooking Light magazine calls for dried sweetened cranberries, but I substituted dried cherries (regular or golden raisins would also fit the bill if you are so inclined). I also increased the amount slightly because 2/3 of a cup just didn’t seem like enough to distribute the cherries evenly into the muffins.

Rather than relying on butter or tons of oil, this recipe uses pumpkin puree and low-fat buttermilk to keep the muffins deliciously moist (only 2 tablespoons of oil required). If you do not have the individual spices for this recipe, you can substitute approximately 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice mixture with the same results (check out this recipe to make your own pumpkin pie spice).

Pumpkin-Cherry Muffins
adapted from Cooking Light

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 375F and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves. Whisk to combine.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin puree, buttermilk, light brown sugar, oil, and egg. Using an electric mixture, beat 3 minutes on medium speed until batter is well blended. Gradually add flour mixture to bowl and beat at low speed just until all ingredients are combined.  Fold in cherries.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on a wire rack to cool.

Serve warm with a smear of butter, if desired (or top with a little cinnamon-sugar).

I’m back in the kitchen! For your enjoyment and consumption, I bring you this spicy, sweet, savory sauce with cherries, orange, and cayenne pepper. While I served the sauce over chicken, this would also be great over pork chops or a pork tenderloin. I used a blood orange for this recipe, but a regular navel orange would work just fine. Blood oranges can be hard to find, though usually available until Spring, and they have a slightly raspberry taste to them.

I also used a fancy Cranberry-Blood Orange Tea Jam from Republic of Tea in place of the preserves, but you could substitute a number of jams or jellies: orange marmalade, cherry preserves, even another berry-flavored jelly. Using frozen cherries cuts down on prep time and allows this recipe to be made in any season, but pitted fresh cherries would be great too.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bag (12 oz) frozen unsweetened dark sweet cherries, thawed 
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 orange, zest and juice
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne (red) pepper
1/8 tsp cumin
1 tbsp cherry preserves

Preheat oven to 350F or broiler. Lightly coat a baking sheet or broiler pan with cooking spray.

Season chicken with salt and black pepper as desired. Bake or broil 20-25 minutes until cooked through and no longer pink.

Meanwhile, combine onion and garlic in a medium saucepan coated lightly in cooking spray. Saute over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.

Add cherries with any liquid from the bag and red wine. Using the back of a spoon, lightly rush the cherries (leave some cherries whole). Zest and juice orange into saucepan. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To serve, spoon hot sauce over chicken breasts. Shown with steamed asparagus and Spicy Sweet Potatoes (the Spicy Cherry Sauce goes great with those potatoes!).