Cinnamon Chicken?

Yup. You read that right: cinnamon chicken. I was a little weary to combine the two ingredients, but really, it turned out quite well.

After reading in various periodicals that cinnamon is both an appetite suppressant and quite good for you, I was ready to try it on chicken. Here's what an article in Women's Health magazine had to say: "Research has linked the copper-colored stuff with reduced blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in people with type 2 diabetes, and a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that adding a little more than a teaspoon to rice pudding even helped tame blood sugar in people without diabetes." Even more of a reason to add more cinnamon to my diet.

Cat Cora, of Food Network fame had this recipe published in the latest issue of Health magazine. I modified it slightly (mainly just by using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, omitting the wine and by halving the recipe) and then served it over some delicious tinkyada brown rice pasta. Here's a play by play of what I did.

Cinnamon Chicken (gluten-free, dairy-free)

serves two for dinner

1 tsp cinnamon, salt & pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup chicken broth
3 tbs tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano

First, mix the cinnamon, salt and pepper in a bowl and rub chicken with cinnamon seasoning. Then heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat. Brown chicken for 4-5 minutes. Lower heat to medium high, add onions and garlic and cook for about three minutes. Then add 1/4 cup of broth to pan and scrape down chicken and onion bits. When the stock has evaporated, add the water, rest of broth, tomato paste, oregano and more garlic. Cover and simmer for one hour. You should be left with two perfectly cooked chicken breasts and lots of tasty sauce.

Henry couldn't keep his eyes off of it.