Operation Pinterest: 1st Edition

Today I am starting a new series of blog posts called Operation Pinterest. For this series, I will test recipes from Pinterest and relay to you what I think about them. I was inspired by the variety of experiences I've had when testing Pinterest recipes. It doesn't seem to matter how many people pin it, it can still suck, in my opinion. I don't mean this to be a critique of the recipe, or the author, because I don't think that's fair. For one, people's tastes are different: different strokes for different folks. But also, I can't stand it when people change a recipe and then complain about how bad it was. In this case, I did change some ingredients so it's not fair for me to judge the original recipe. I only want to give you my thoughts and advice on the recipe so you can get a better idea about the random recipe you found on Pinterest.
Today I have for you Tomato Basil Chicken from Menu Musings. This recipe is currently very popular on Pinterest. That was what first qualified it as a candidate. Also, it's naturally gluten-free (serving with pasta is optional) with accessible ingredients. Sounds good to me!

So as I mentioned, we need simple, accessible ingredients. Pasta is optional, and the original poster used fresh ground pepper, fresh tomatos, and whole chicken breasts (mine are cutlets).

You start by cooking the chicken in a generous amount of oil seasoned with salt and pepper. The oil is part of the sauce.

When the chicken is cooked, you add the tomatos and fresh basil. When something calls for fresh basil or garlic I pretty much always oblige. In this case I diced the basil rather than cut into ribbons.

Then you add butter, garlic, and spices. I skipped the portion where you remove the chicken and cut it into pieces (which you could really do at any point in the recipe) and I regret it. Cut the chicken before you go to eat it. Serve with whatever you please and garnish with cheese if you desire.

Thoughts and Advice

• This is a good recipe for improvisation. When I make recipes, I like a starting point so I'm not completely guessing, but this one is great for "eye-balling." I used canned tomatos so I guessed how much. I used cutlets versus chicken breasts so I guessed on that. The basil was a rough estimate. I used garlic cloves rather than teaspoons. And it all turned out great. Cooking is a very individual thing and this recipe holds up great to you making it your own. 
• The flavors in this are uncomplicated, simple. Yet it's still very good. This dish was restaurant-esque and boyfriend-approved (I probably wouldn't post a recipe if it weren't).
• This was pretty dang easy! You make pretty much everything in the same pan in a relatively short amount of time. There aren't too many ingredients, and they're accessible and interchangeable. 
• As I said, I make it a rule of thumb to always use fresh garlic and basil. I think if something calls for these fresh, you're doing a disservice to the recipe if you don't. Just my personal philosophy.
• Make sure your oil is plenty hot before putting the chicken in or it probably won't brown. Not a problem, but it is something to consider.
• And as I mentioned, do take the time to cut the chicken before you try to eat it. If you're eating it in a bowl with pasta as I did, it's tough to cut.

If you'd like to try this recipe out, please go visit the original blog, Menu Musings of a Modern American Mom. I hope this was helpful. If you have any ideas from things that you've seen on Pinterest for this new series, let me know in the comments! :)