Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes

 I'm toying around with creating a new tag for my blog- budget meals. H and I would like to have a bit of extra spending money in some other areas, and I decided there was enough room in the grocery budget to do a bit of trimming. Who doesn't want to save a few dollars if they can? I'll be doing the cost breakdown at the bottom of the budget meal posts, below the recipe.

I consider budget meals a bit of a creative challenge. Eating healthy, delicious food is important to me, and not something I want to sacrifice. However, I strongly believe that it's not necessary to give up taste or nutrition to cook frugally. There are absolutely healthy, delicious options out there that don't cost and arm and a leg.

One easy way to make dinner on a budget is to pick a recipe that has few ingredients. Obviously, fewer ingredients means a lower cost per serving, but the flavor of those few ingredients is really able to shine through as well. Simple and delicious. And that is what drew me to this recipe for Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes from Cooking Light.

Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes

1 pint of grape tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion
1 Tablespoon of honey
2 Tablespoon of olive oil

4 chicken breasts
salt and pepper to season

2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinaigrette

8 oz. orzo pasta        

Directions: Preheat oven to 450. Cover a baking pan with aluminum foil, and spread grape tomatoes and sliced onion on it. Drizzle honey and 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil on top, and roast in the oven for 6 minutes. Remove the pan, stir veggies, and place back in oven for 7 minutes, or until tomato skins begin to burst. When finished, set aside in a small bowl.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil for pasta, and when ready, cook according to package directions. Then, pound chicken breasts to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Rinse, pat dry, and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat remaining Tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over medium high. Sauté chicken in saucepan until lightly browned on both sides and juices run clear (about 8 minutes per side).

When chicken is done, serve over orzo pasta, and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette. Divide roasted tomatoes and onions on top. Enjoy!



Adapted from Cooking Light, original recipe here.

Budget Breakdown:
My definition of a budget meal will be $2.50 or less per serving. Obviously, the total cost of ingredients will be more, but these are things you'll most likely already have in the pantry, and if not, easily use again. I'll do my best to total the meals up with the actual prices we paid, but if it's an item we already had on hand, I'll be using the current price from our local supermarket.

Final rule- I'm not counting salt and pepper (or spices), because I am not even going to attempt the math involved in measuring that out, and it will most likely add up to fractions of a cent.

For 4 servings

(Ingredient @ cost)                                                  cost per serving

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1 pint of grape tomatoes @ $1.99                                      50¢
1 medium yellow onion @ $6.50 for 20                              8¢
1 Tablespoon of honey @ $3.50/12 oz.                               5¢
2 Tablespoon of olive oil @ $22.00/101 fl. oz.                    5¢
4 chicken breasts (5 oz. portions) @ $2.99/lb                    93¢
2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinaigrette @ $1.24/16 fl.oz     2¢
8 oz. orzo pasta @ $1.05/16 oz.                                         13¢
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                                                                                       $1.76 per serving