Cooking with apples

I'm going to be honest with you all - I don't do a lot of cooking, and that's mostly out of laziness. I really enjoy cooking, but by the time I get home from work I just want to veg. Saturday though was an exception being the weekend and because my little sister was staying with me. So we made sautéed chicken with apples, and it was very simple and very delicious.

Photo from Real Simple.com

I used a recipe from Real Simple's website, which I've provided for you below with some of my notes. I think this is a great meal for the cooler weather and a nice way to use some delicious fall apples.

What You Need

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 firm apple, cored and cut into 1/2-inch slices

1 cup of apple juice

1 large onion, thinly sliced (I only used part of an onion)

1 garlic clove, minced (I used pre-minced garlic from a jar)

1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves (I didn't use)

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard (I substituted stadium mustard because it was all I had)

How You Make It

-Place each chicken breast between two sheets of wax paper and pound with a meat mallet until they're about 3/4 inch thick. (I skipped this step due to lack of a meat mallet - chicken just needs to sauté longer)

-Heat the oil (you can use butter, too) in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

-Sauté the chicken until golden brown on each side (3 minutes per side, or longer if the chicken is thicker)

-Add apple slices, onion slices, garlic, apple juice, thyme and a dash of salt and pepper.

-Cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes, or until chicken is fork-tender.

-Remove chicken, apple slices and onion slices to a serving platter or plate and keep warm.

-Bring sauce to boil for 5 minutes, or until slightly reduced.

-Whisk in mustard.

-Pour sauce over chicken and serve.