Persian Pomegranate-Walnut Chicken

This is a recipe I came across when I was trying to find something to use my POM juice in. I had 1 bottle left and I wanted to make something savory. This recipe sounded really interesting and pretty easy.
I got scared that my kids wouldn't like it because the combination of ingredients sounded a little strange. I also had a couple of visitors over for dinner, so I didn't know how it was going to go.
The sauce smelled amazing to me, but I didn't know if everyone else would like the cinnamon and other things going on in this dish.
Ok- here is the best part.
Everyone LOVED it!
And I don't just mean they thought it was good or ok or whatever.
My kids, my guests, my family- they all thought it was the best chicken dish we had ever had.
And we have had some really delicious chicken.
I didn't have to bribe anyone to eat it. I even had a couple of people who wanted to lick out the remaining sauce that was in the electric skillet. Kinda embarrassing, but I think someone did get a piece of bread and ate every last smidgen of the sauce.
I made a really delicious Muhammara Dip with this too and I will be posting that in a couple days.
The feedback I got from this dinner was awesome. I love it when that happens.

Persian Pomegranate-Walnut Chicken from Cooking Light
Based on the Persian dish fesenjan, this streamlined entrée features a sweet-tart sauce of pomegranate juice thickened with ground walnuts.
After toasting, cool the nuts completely before grinding.

1 cup walnuts, toasted
8 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
Cooking spray
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (I used chicken stock)
1 cup pomegranate juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed (I omitted this because I didn't have any)
Dash of ground cinnamon
Cilantro sprigs (optional)

1. Place walnuts in a food processor; process until finely ground. Set aside.

2. Sprinkle chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add half of chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken.

3. Recoat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, ground walnuts, broth, and the remaining ingredients except cilantro, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until reduced to 1 1/2 cups (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Return chicken to pan; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.
Yield: 8 servings

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