Chicken & Asparagus with Melted Gruyere

By garciamoss

For this elegant dish, boneless chicken breast and asparagus are smothered in a luxurious white-wine sauce with just the right amount of melted Gruyère cheese. Tarragon and lemon add a delicious light flavor that is perfect with asparagus.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed and tenders removed (see Note)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2/3 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

Preparation

Step 1

Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add asparagus; cover and steam for 3 minutes. Uncover, remove from the heat and set aside.
Whisk broth and 2 teaspoons flour in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
Place the remaining 1/4 cup flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour, shaking off any excess.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side, adjusting heat as needed to prevent scorching. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
Add shallot, wine and the reserved broth mixture to the pan; cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in sour cream, tarragon, lemon juice and the reserved asparagus until combined. Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover and continue cooking until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

Note: It can be difficult to find an individual chicken breast small enough for one portion. Removing the thin strip of meat from the underside of a 5-ounce breast—the chicken tender—removes about 1 ounce of meat and yields a perfect 4-ounce portion. Wrap and freeze the tenders and when you have gathered enough, use them in a stir-fry or for oven-baked chicken fingers.