{now presenting: a guest post from my lovely and talented neighbor Rana}

Becoming friends with Anny has meant becoming intimately familiar with her passion for cooking. During finals last semester, she spent days in my living room writing a research paper about the socio-politics of Arab-Israeli relations as manifest in cookbooks. At the end of each day, over cabernets and bitter chocolates, she shared new insights on the blends of nationalism in the recipes and the orientalism mixed in with other rich Mediterranean ingredients. Since then I’ve taken advantage of our proximity (it is my fortune to be her neighbor) and popped into her dinner parties, peeped through all her kitchen cabinets and shared many a meal.

I, however, am not a cook.

I put together salads and pastas for dinner, or happily settle for a meal of cheese, bread, and olives. Yet Anny has reminded me that cooking need not be a burden nor particularly difficult. So I wanted to share a recipe from that other woman in my life whose cooking is always just right, her hospitality superb, and her company a pleasure. My mother’s Chicken Marbella is juicy!

Chicken Marbella

Cut chicken breast into cubes and marinate in the following blend about 24 hours before cooking: 3-5 heads of chopped garlic, juice of one lemon, two tablespoons of white vinegar, one-third a bottle of chardonnay (drink the rest with dinner), generous amount of olive oil (eye it, about half a cup), two tablespoons of capers, a jar of peppered green olives, and a cup of sliced prunes. Sprinkle on oregano, salt, and pepper, and let those juices go to work.

Cover a Pyrex or other oven-safe pan with foil and bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 50 minutes. Serve in slightly deep plates and don’t deprive your guest of a spoon along with the fork and knife.

For your side salad, I recommend a Mediterranean-inspired dressing of equal parts vinegar (in this case white to go along with the chicken) and olive oil, 1/2–part mustard, seasoned with salt and pepper.

*This meal is specific-carbohydrate diet friendly.