I don’t doubt it! However, since it was originally a Weight Watchers recipe, it took every ounce of courage I had to up the pan-searing oil to a Tablespoon from the original teaspoon in the recipe!
Chicken Marsala
Take two chicken breasts and cut them in half lengthwise. Put them in a freezer baggie (it’s thick and won’t tear) and pound each (one at a time) flat with a mallet. Season with a bit of salt and pepper.
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Fry the chicken breasts for 3 minutes per side. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. Cover with foil to keep warm.
Saute some sliced mushrooms (1/2 lb) for about 5 minutes in the chicken oil. Add 1/2 cup of Marsala (or white) wine and stir. Add 2 tablespoons jarred capers. Cook for about a minute, then add 1 tbs butter.
Add the chicken back in, and warm through. Serve with cooked bowtie pasta tossed with butter, parsley and grated parmesan.
Again many thanks. This thread is being printed! 
And as I’m really nerdy, here are my favourite posts 
:
Honourable mentions:
- Chronos ‘I won’t offer any recipes, but I will offer some general advice’
- **Dewey Finn **‘Since you’re a Brit, I assume you like Indian food.’
- WhyNot ‘Cause the proteins denature and coagulate too quickly in a hot pan’
3rd: Savannah ‘Cooking for Engineers!’
2nd: Szlater ‘Scrambled eggs can be done very easily.’
1st: Chefguy ‘If I may offer a couple of suggestions’
I too was going to recommend stir frying - essentially cut it all up small and throw it in…
But especially as a novice, I would be very wary of stir frying with olive oil. Its relatively low smoke point can lead to some nasty situations.
Isn’t groundnut oil the recommended oil for stirfry, with its high smoke point and low flavour?
I think so - but a novice probably won’t be looking to have that many different oils in the house.
As a total aside, I knew I had been living in the south when I packed my kitchen up for the move, and was stunned at the number of different types of sugar I had. Why yes, it is essential that I have 4 different types of corn syrup.
It is essential that I have 4 different computers in my house! :o
I really am a novice.
The only flavouring/oil/herb/spice I had in my house for 20 years was Tomato Ketchup.
No butter or margarine either. :eek:
Anyway my mate has now provided me with Chives / Rosemary / Thyme / Mixed herbs / Ground Mace.
But I hope posters realise just how little cooking I have ever done.
I bought eggs, sausages and bacon for the first time ever two weeks ago.
I don’t know how to ‘saute’ 
and have never chopped a vegetable in my life.
If you want to get into this, find a local place that does basic cooking courses, and take a one night course that teaches you how to chop. Vital skill, and it really makes prep work go so much faster. Also, how the ingredients are chopped will have a major influence on the taste. You’ll probably need to buy some knives, too.
Once you can dice, slice, cube and julienne, you can then just start experimenting, and as a bonus you will have all 10 digits left on your hands.
I think there’s a misunderstanding.
I appreciate your advice is correct, but I just want to spend about 25 minutes in total (5 prep; 20 cooking) on making simple dishes.
I don’t want to spend any money on knives, because I already have two. 
Watch the video tutorials on the BBC food site (in the “get cooking” section). It’ll teach you the basics such as how to chop an onion, slice garlic, make mash, make rice and so on.
Well if you can cut things properly, you will be able to do a lot more in that 25 minutes. Especially if you are willing to divide it differently - maybe 10 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking…
Anyway, the suggestion was more for the next step. After you fall in love with cooking for yourself, as you will. Anway, you only really need two knives, but you might need two better knives…
Villa is right. You are probably fine with the knives you have, for now. But you should learn how to use them so you can chop stuff efficiently and safely.
Once you learn how to properly use a knife you will be amazed at all the things you can cook in 25 minutes or so. Heck, once you know what you are doing there is very little that will require more than 30 minutes of work on your part.
Here’s a fairly good list of cooking lingo: http://www.recipegoldmine.com/kitchart/kitchart17.html.
“Saute” just means to fry in a skillet with a little bit of fat. A lot of recipes start with sauteing onions, etc. You chop up your veg, heat a little oil (usually between a teaspoon and a tablespoon or enough to thinly coat the bottom of the pan), put in the veg and let them cook until they’re soft, stirring occasionally (every few minutes).
You do want to learn to chop veg - that will vastly expand your cooking abilities and speed up your prep. It’s not hard and doesn’t take long once you’ve got the knack. Get your mate to show you how to slice and dice, or look online for instructions.
“Saute” means to fry in a small amount of oil or other fat (like butter or margarine - about a tablespoon,) over medium high heat and stir around; about the same as “stir-fry,” except stir-fry is over higher heat.
Come over to the MMP and see a list of cookbooks that we are discussing this week. Also, this cooking techniques site might help.
Ohh, I want cookbooks. Can I come play?
Please do! The more the merrier!
(Be warned though, once you post you are a member of the MMP for life! :D)
I second learning how to cut things up. And having your knives professionally sharpened. You wouldn’t believe how much faster the prep work goes when you have a really good knife, a good cutting board, and a basic understanding of how to use them.
Really, my mom always cut things up by cross-hatching them longways with a paring knife and the slicing across with the item in her hand. I thought it was supposed to take a fair bit of time to cut up eggs for egg salad, or potatoes to boil. It’s part of the reason I didn’t cook much–too time-consuming and tedious.
A big, huge part of learning to cook (and enjoying it) is learning how to make things easy on yourself. Learning a few basic knife skills (and years later, my knife skills are still very basic) is really the highest return on your investment in this area.
You might want to check out Harold Mcgee’s reference book On Food And Cooking. It has a huge amount of information about the chemical composition of food and how cooking changes it. Lots of answers to “Why?” questions which will give you ideas and make you a better cook.