Garlic Chicken with Ranch Mashed Potatoes and Asparagus

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRAIG! Yes, Craig turned the big 3-0 today, so I made him a REAL dinner with sides and everything. Don't worry, he will get a much more birthday-worthy dinner this weekend...we are going to Burlington, VT and staying at the Inn at Essex, where the Vermont Culinary Institute is housed. Read: awesome food everywhere. Woohoo!

Tonight's chicken recipe is from allrecipes.com!INGREDIENTS:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Salt

Pepper

10 cloves garlic, peeled

1 1/2 tsp canola or veggie oil

5 tbsp chicken broth

1/4 cup dry white wine, or chicken broth

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

-Season chicken with salt and pepper

-In skillet, cook chicken and garlic in oil 4-6 minutes.

-Add 4 tbsp broth, wine or additional broth, lemon juice, basil, and oregano.

-Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until chicken is done.

-Transfer chicken to a serving platter and keep warm.

-In small bowl, combine cornstarch and remaining broth until smooth. Stir into skillet, and bring to a boil--cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Spoon sauce over chicken.

COMMENTS:

-We used pre-chopped garlic instead of cloves--about 2 teaspoons. It was more than enough!

-The sauce at the end was actually a little too thick, so we just added some extra chicken broth--maybe 2 tablespoons more. Sauce was still pretty thick, but not as bad as it was at first.

-For the mashed potatoes: these came out AMAZING. We just made regular mashed potatoes, then added skim milk, butter and ranch dressing. Lots of ranch dressing. They were soooo good.

-For the asparagus, we just grilled them in a skillet with butter and chopped garlic. We do this a lot as a veggie side, and we love it. Simple and very yummy!

Also, Craig really liked licking the potato spoon.