Creamy Chicken and Asparagus on Toast

I love asparagus.  It is one of those vegetables that I would eat several times a week and be a happy camper.  I've never made it in a dish though, it has always just been served as a side.

So I thought I would try something new.  This recipe reminded me of Chicken A La King, which is a dish that I used to love as a child, so I thought I would turn this recipe into a modified version of what my mom used to make.


Creamy Chicken and Asparagus on Toast
adapted from 365: No Repeats

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large red onion
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
3 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
6 tablespoons butter
2 chicken breasts
4 pieces of toast
1 cup fresh leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup half and half
1 bunch of pencil thin asparagus ends
1 cup parmesean cheese

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2) Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil and add onions, thyme, and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently until nice and brown about 5 to 8 minutes.
3) Remove the onions and add the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter, add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. 
4) While chicken is cooking, combine the 5 tablespoons of  butter and the parsley to create a parsley butter.  Toast bread and then spread the butter on the bread.
5) Add the browned onions back to the skillet with the chicken, dust with the flour, and continue to cook for 1 minute.  Whisk in the wine, stock, and half and half and bring up to a simmer. 
6) Add the asparagus and cook for  two to three minutes or until the aspargus is tender and the sauce is thick. 
7) Place the chicken (I cut it into pieces instead of leaving it whole, I also think shredding it might work really well), asparagus, and the creamy sauce on top of the bread and top with cheese.  Put in the oven and cook until the cheese is melted.

I thought the dish turned out well.  I didn't particularly think that the parsley butter added much to the dish except maybe a bunch of unneeded calories.  I did like the asparagus and chicken combination and thought the red onion was a much better addition than a yellow onion like the recipe called for. 

Also as much as I wanted this to be Chicken A La King, it was much different.  It may be because I didn't use a ton of sauce on each piece of toast, but it didn't have that gravy comfort feel.  But, it was a good dinner that may come out again in the future if I run across it in the cookbook again.