Recipe: Chicken with Summer Melon-Nectarine Relish (a.k.a. “The KOVR13 Special”)

As I mentioned in “What’s In Store for September” your very own Poor Girl is going to be featured on the local news. KOVR 13, our local CBS affiliate here in Sac, has a feature called Save with Dave, which highlights the best in money-saving services & products. Today was the shoot (don’t worry, it won’t be on until next week and I’ll give you the link then), and though I was a little nervous (you can tell in how babbly I am), I still had fun. I rather like having a camera around, as long as I don’t have to look directly into it; that’s when I start to get a little anxious.

Anywho, I have been wanting to do a chicken & fruit recipe for a couple of weeks now, and thought now was as good a time as any to try one. Though I had considered doing comfortable and safe for the shoot, I decided to be bold and experiment a bit with this one anyway. I already knew it would be a pretty tasty dish, especially considering how delicious fresh fruit has been lately. The combination of sweet & tart fruit, crisp cilantro, and spicy Serrano peppers atop some lightly seasoned chicken seemed impossibly easy and potentially delicious. And I love that the folks from KOVR 13 went along with the whole thing and watched with curious, but encouraging faces as I chopped and threw stuff together.

Once again I’m focusing on simplicity, as I thoroughly enjoy the remainder of summer fruits and veggies. Don’t get me wrong, I love complicated sauces and soups and stews, but I will have plenty of that coming up as the colder weather sets in. Right now I not only want to keep the actual grunt work in the kitchen to a minimum due to the heat but remind myself – and others – how delicious some foods can be without a lot of fanfare. All this recipe boils down to is some chopping and some pan-frying, yet you’ll end up with an elegant looking, fresh-tasting dish that would cost a lot more if you were to order this at a restaurant. And as I mentioned before, this dish is very healthy and low in calories, so those of you who are watching your weight can definitely throw this on the menu. The most fat you’ll find here comes from the little bit in the chicken and a tiny bit of olive oil, and the melon & nectarine add an interesting texture and some unexpected fruit fiber, which is always good. In terms of the relish, I would definitely suggest preparing it as written but ahead of time (the day before would be awesome), as the fruit will naturally release its own juices and you will end up with a juicier relish. I had prepared this on the spot, so this didn’t end up happening for the finished product that will be shown in the shoot, but it was still very tasty.

The best part of the whole thing was letting the producer and photographer try some when the dish was finished. If I could have gotten a good shot of their faces when they tried it I would have definitely posted that because it was so fun to watch them enjoy this! The best compliment a cook can get is that look of utter satisfaction on her diner’s faces, and even if I look silly on TV next week, I know I made some new fans. 🙂