Now, supermarket chicken fillets look like refugees from a nuclear disaster. Some weigh 12 ounces, which must rival a small turkey. To be sure, it's going to require longer cooking.

It will require some stealth shopping, too. You can pick up a package of chicken breast halves that weighs 1 1/4 pounds and find only two pieces in it — a little tricky if you have to feed four people.

Just cut them in half and follow the recipe. You'll still have to punt a little — the breast is liable to be thicker than those petite ones of yore. But it makes an adequate serving and requires only a few more minutes of cooking.

In the following recipe, you can brown the meat in a skillet, then keep it warm (and finish cooking it) in the oven while you make the sauce.

Coating the chicken breast in flour is an extra step, and a messy one, that gives the chicken a delicious coating. You can skip the step, though, if you're in a rush.

This tomato sauce tastes fabulous when made with a mix of imported olives. But the inexpensive stuffed green olives that come already in pieces make a quick substitute.

CHICKEN WITH TOMATOES, OLIVES AND LEMON

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast meat
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
• 14 to 16 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, optional
• 1 cup mixed good-quality olives, or substitute stuffed green olives
• 1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, then coat it all over with flour. Sauté as many chicken pieces as will comfortably fit into skillet, just until brown on both sides, about 8 minutes total, less if you are using chicken tenders.

Place chicken in heat-proof pan or dish and allow to cook in oven while you finish sauce.

Add garlic (and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, if pan is dry); stir. Let the garlic sizzle a few seconds. When it's aromatic, add tomatoes, red pepper and olives. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and let the mixture simmer five minutes.

Remove chicken from oven; place on serving plates. Squeeze lemon over chicken, then top with sauce. Serve with rice, polenta or oven-roasted potatoes.

Serves 4.