Skinny, Dreamy, Apricot Chicken

Made in a jiffy, this lovely chicken dish comes out very moist and delicious. The sweetness of the apricot jam and the tangy balsamic vinegar create a sauce bursting with flavor. Each serving has only 225 calories, 3 grams of fat and 4 Weight Watchers Freestyle SmartPoints. 

Prep Time: 12 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup onions, chopped

4 (4-ounce each) chicken breasts, boneless, skinless

Juice from 1 lemon

½ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon olive oil

Cooking spray

⅓ cup reduced sugar apricot preserves, see shopping tip

⅓ cup (~5) dried apricots, diced into small pieces.

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

¼ teaspoon salt

Black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Place onions on a microwave safe plate and cook in the microwave to soften, about 1 minute.

2. Place chicken breasts on a plate and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon all over the chicken. Let sit about 5 minutes. Combine thyme, garlic powder and ¼ teaspoon salt and sprinkle ½ of these seasonings over top of chicken.

3. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan, coated with cooking spray.  Add softened onions. Cook for 1 minute over medium-high heat. Add chicken and the lemon juice to pan of onions, seasoning side down. Sprinkle the top of chicken with remaining seasonings. Sauté over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes, turn over, cover and continue to cook over medium-heat, about 4 minutes, until done. Remove chicken from pan to a serving plate.

4. Turn heat down to medium-low. Add apricot preserves, dried apricot pieces, balsamic vinegar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and a little pepper. Mix well to combine. Stir constantly until the preserves melt, about 30 seconds or so.  Spoon apricot sauce over chicken.

Makes 4 servings (each serving, 1 chicken breast and about 2½ tablespoons sauce)

Shopping Tips
I like Trader Joe’s line of reduced-sugar preserves. I used apricot for this recipe but it’s available in raspberry, strawberry, blueberry and blackberry. Or, use your favorite reduced-sugar apricot jam or preserves.

Weight Watchers Freestyle SmartPoints 4
Weight Watchers SmartPoints 6
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 6