Easier than ordering take out.

A good home cooked dinner doesn't always mean you have to break out the recipes from Le Cordon Bleu. I mean, that's all good and everything, especially if you trained there, but sometimes you just want something that takes no effort, but tastes pretty dang awesome. Well, my little darlings, have I got the recipe for you. Again, keeping with my usual theme of versatility in a recipe, you can make this with chicken (like me) or pork, or whatever really. Probably even fish!

So grab your ingredients. This is already going to be simple, you can just tell: lemon, mustard, rosemary and olive oil. Oh yeah; and the chicken.

So here is all you have to do. A dollop of dijon, a sprinkle of dried rosemary, a good splash of lemon juice, and a dash olive oil. Come to think of it, this would probably make a good salad dressing too... or, maybe even on cous cous! I love cous cous.

Mix it all up, plop the chicken in a plastic bag, and add the marinade/dressing. Then let it sit there for a while well you prepare the rest of dinner. Speaking of the rest of dinner, want to see how I kept it super easy and fast? This may be breaking with my usual tradition of just focusing on one main dish, but what the heck, right?

So, my favorite grocery store has these convenient little packages of pre-chopped veggies. So I grabbed one of them on my last trip there, and all I had to do was toss them in some olive oil and salt and pepper, then stuff it into the oven and roast them for a bit. High heat, 30 or so minutes, and presto. Amazing veggies.

And, since I grew up always having three dishes on my plate, I usually stick with that method. But, since it is almost summer here, JP and I are pretending to diet so we can have beach bodies. And that means lots of veggies. So, streamed sugar snap peas it was! Love those guys, slightly sweet and crunchy. Delish!

So back to the chicken. One neat trick for getting a great flavor and color is to sear it on both sides first. This adds a burst of flavor and seals in the flavor of the marinade too. This is a great trick for any meat you cook, be it pork, chicken or steak. Mmmm steak. I adore a good steak...

Right, chicken.

So after I seared it up, I tossed it into the oven with the roasting veggies. This trick makes sure that you get great flavor on the outside without over cooking (read: burning the heck out of the chicken like I have done so very many times!) the inside of the chicken.

Yum; this is one of my very favorite ways of eating veggies. The roasting process just does something wonderful to the flavors. Its hard to describe, but trust me here. You will love it.

 

Once the chicken is done, let it sit for a minute. When you do this, it allows the juices to redistribute and makes the meat that much tastier. It also allows it to cool just a bit, so when you start eating it, you don't burn your mouth. Cause no one likes that. At least I am pretty sure no one would like that...

Serve it will all those tasty veggies you just made. Trust me that this is so simple its ridiculous. It takes less time than waiting for a pizza to get delivered too. Maybe about 30-40 minutes, start to finish. That easy, and trust me on this one, it is that tasty.

Just, yum, all over the plate.

xoxo
Craig

Lemon Chicken

What you need:

• 2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup lemon juice (about 3 fresh lemons)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 plastic bag

In a small mixing bowl, add the lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, rosemary and salt and pepper. Mix until well blended. Take the plastic bag, and put the chicken breast in it. Pour the marinade over, and seal it up. Squish it around to make sure all the chicken gets covered. Place it aside for about 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF). Once that is done, you can start on making the chicken. In a medium pan over medium high heat, sear the chicken on both sides. You can add a drop or two of olive oil if you are worried about it sticking to the pan.

Once the chicken is seared, place it into the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until it is firm to the touch but not hard. Or you can test its doneness by cutting into it and seeing if the juices run clear. Then its done. Eat with yummy things, like roasted veggies, or cous cous!