Recipe: Chicken Breasts with Garlic and Basil | Recipe

Chicken Breasts Roasted with Garlic and Basil, Tomato and Zucchini

This is a delicious easy to prepare chicken recipe, filled with ingredients from the cancer fighting and heart healthy Mediterranean diet. This recipe combines healthy protein with tasty aromatic herbs, and spices and anti-oxidant and fiber rich vegetables. Enjoy a healthy serving of protein from chicken breasts along with aromatic flavors of the super cancer fighting herbs garlic and basil. Garlic is rich in sulfur and promotes normal detoxification and provides fiber for enhancing healthy intestinal ecology. Basil is rich in aromatic oils that add flavor and enhance digestion and flavonols, plant chemicals with potent cell protective antioxidant activity. Basil is a source of carnosol, a plant chemical that may have the power to arrest the growth and spread of cancer cells. Basil also promotes normal inflammation control and has an enhancing effect on normal blood sugar regulation. Tomatoes are rich in deep red lycopene, another potent antioxidant has been widely studied for its anticancer effects. The deep green of basil leaves and the rich red of tomatoes is nature’s way of signaling the presence of protective and healing plant nutrients. Add the olive oil, a source of healthy monounsaturated oils, Vitamins A and E and cancer fighting oleuropein from olives and you have a meal in which every ingredient supports your health and contributes to creating a body where cancer cannot thrive.

Ingredients

¼ cup chopped basil leaves
2 tablespoons lemon zest (from organic lemons)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup organic extra virgin olive oil
2 large hormone free chicken breasts with bone attached
2 organic zucchini squash sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
8 oz cherry tomatoes
¼ cup additional basil leaves, chopped (for garnish)
lemon wedges from organic lemons

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Place the basil, lemon zest, garlic and oil in a bowl and toss to combine.
Place the chicken and zucchini into a lightly oiled baking dish
Spoon basil mixture over chicken breasts.
Roast for 10 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and roast for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Remove from oven. Place on a serving plate.
Squeeze fresh lemon juice over each breast.
Top with extra basil leaves.
Serves 2.