Orange-Maple Glazed Chicken

We had this for supper tonight. It's from Simple & Delicious July/Aug '09 issue. We have been having a lot of chicken lately, or so it seems, but I thought this one sounded good to try. I always like sticky glazes on chicken.

Orange-Maple Glazed Chicken
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp salt, divided
3/4 tsp pepper, divided
1 tbsp minced fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp grated orange peel (you can buy it like that in the spice aisle, you don't have to grate your own)
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, maple syrup, vinegar, mustard, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes (mine only took like 8 minutes but I was boiling it pretty rapidly). Stir in basil and orange peel; remove from heat and set aside. Sprinkle chicken with remaining salt and pepper. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until chicken juices run clear, basting occasionally with orange juice mixture. 6 servings.

I used the broiler instead, since we don't usually grill on weeknights. Or really, any night. Maybe like 3-4 times per summer, and only when we have people over. So tonight didn't count. It seems like a lot of work when it's just us. You can comment to me about that if you disagree. Anyway if you are like me, preheat the broiler, but not the broiler pan. Spray the heck out of your broiling pan with cooking spray. Put the chicken on it, sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Stick it under the broiler for 2 or 3 minutes BEFORE you put any glaze on it, that way it won't smoke and burn as much. After you broil it for 2 or 3 minutes, don't flip them yet...put on some of the glaze, broil for 2 to 3 more minutes, then flip them over, add some more glaze, and broil for like 3 more minutes. They should be done by then. If not, you can cut them in half and do one more minute...by now your glaze on the broiler pan will be smoking but the chicken itself should be okay.

We had this with a thing of free rice I got with a coupon, Uncle Ben's Ready Rice that you microwave right in the package for 90 seconds then dump on plates. Not fabulous, but free. Not sure I would pay $1.29 for it to have it again, although I did like how easy it was. And we had carrot sticks for the vegetable. I think that this was actually a "sensible dinner" in Slim Fast terms. Even though we had a glaze on the chicken, it wasn't oil based. The kids all ate their chicken, and Sam and Emma actually ate rice wahoo! Without complaining! This is progress for sure.