What's for Dinner: Chicken with Tomato Herb Sauce and Mashed Yams

I made this simple, yet deceivingly fancy dish for myself and Mr. Artist last month.  While Mr. Artist puttered away at being, well, an artist, doing some work at home, I played up my best Stepford wifey and proved that hell yeah I can turn out a good looking dish if I want to!  I'm just usually lazy ok.  Talking for real though, you should eat this.

• 2 tbsp margarine or butter
• 1 minced garlic clove (I used 2)
• 1.5 tsp chopped fresh marjoram or oregano (I also was a bit generous with the measuring here b/c I like the herby taste)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 2 cups mixed cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Definitely try to get fresh herbs if possible; the flavour is maximized this way.  Mash butter, garlic, marjoram and paprika in a small bowl to blend.  Season with S&P to taste.

Melt 1 tbsp of the butter mix in a medium heavy skillet over medium heat.  Season chicken both sides with salt and pepper (this means sprinkle it all over).  Add chicken to skillet and cook until center's no longer pink, about 5 mins per side depending on the meat's thickness.  Personally, I hate cooking big chicken pieces like this for this reason as I'm pretty paranoid about serving raw, poisonous meat (who isn't?), but I'm also adamant about not having dry chicken.  Too often, chicken is ruined when it's overcooked, but when you get that perfect timing where it's cooked, but moist... OH MY GOD.

Once chicken is cooked, transfer to a covered plate to keep warm.  Now turn the heat to high and using the same skillet (key!) add the tomatoes.  Gently cook the tomatoes, stirring every so often until the tomatoes slowly ooze out their juices when pressed.  Add remaining butter mixture and stir.  Spoon over chicken and garnish with fresh parsley.

To make the dead easy mashed yams:

Take a few yams and cut into length-wise halves.  Arrange on a plate and put them in the microwave.  Heat on high a couple minutes at a time until contents are soft and yield to a scooping spoon.   Scoop out contents (watch it, they will be smoking hot) into a large bowl and mash away with a bit of butter thrown in and/or milk.  Enjoy!