Naughty Buddy and Poached Chicken Breasts

Today was one of my "cheating" days. We had a day long inservice at school, and then I spent some time with Ken, my boyfriend. We haven't seen much of each other lately because earlier this winter Ken broke his hip, and although he's getting around well on his own these days, with the bad weather, we remained in our respective homes, which are 15 miles apart. I shared the meal offered by the college's teaching association, and then Ken and I shared a meal that was more sinful than I usually eat. So, when I came home, I opened a bottle of red wine and poured myself a glass.

At the same time I was cooking a couple of poached chicken breasts, one of my recent favorites. It isn't new since I started this blog, but new since I started the diet. I'll get back to that in a minute. So, as the breasts were poaching, I went to sit down at the table with my glass of wine, and as I went down, Buddy jumped up. Red wine went everywhere. In particular on the creamy white sweater I was wearing. Although he didn't do it intentionally, Buddy was sent to bed with a red wine stain on his nose.

So, let me tell you about poached chicken breasts. Poaching is the ideal way in which to prepare food that is low in calories. Basically, poaching is cooking in a simmering liquid. I've been poaching eggs for years, but I have never tried poaching anything else until I came across this recipe in...you guessed it. the January/February 2010 issue of Everyday Cooking. I love the subtle lemon and thyme flavors of this meat. I frequently will take a plain chicken breast and a vegetable soup like Butternut Squash soup to school for lunch. Two very stark and yet different tastes. The picture above is of the ingredients for the breasts prior to the inclusion of the breasts.

Note: I'm a poor photographer, and the pictures I've been including are from my cell phone. I apologize for their quality, but they really are about as good as I'm capable of producing.

Ingredients
1/2 a medium yell onion halved
1 medium carrot cut into thirds
1 celery stalk, cut into thirds
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 lemon, sliced (optional)
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
3 sprigs thyme
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I frequently poach just two breast halves at a time.

Preparations
In a large, straight-sided skillet or pot, combine all ingredients except chicken; cover with water by 1/2 inch. Bring to a boil over high. Add chicken and return to a boil. Cook 3 minutes, then cover skillet and remove from heat. let stand until chicken is cooked through, 15 to 18 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove chicken from poaching liquid immediately.

243 calories per chicken breast half.