Alright here it is! I apologize, this first recipe is gonna be pretty disorganized. I improvised the whole thing, didn't write down, well, anything, and didn't take pictures. So I fail. Lucky for you, Alexa doesn't suck at life so you know that her recipe comes fully equipped with pictures and precise directions. Anyhow, without further ado, Brown Sugar Chicken with Balsamic Bell Pepper and Cucumber Salad.
The other day on my weekly trip to Trader Joes, I decided to buy a bag of brown sugar. I personally don't like living without some on hand, and figured everybody felt this way until I alerted my roommates to it's presence in the kitchen and they informed me that they don't use it. One even asked what it's for. I had to restrain myself. What is it for? Only everything! Or eating plain when you're really jonesing for some sweets and don't have anything more conventional. Anyway, on the same trip I picked up some whole carrots, whole mushrooms, whole garlic cloves, yellow zucchini, cucumber, balsamic dressing, organic boneless, skinless chicken, and butter. I had no idea what I was gonna do with any of it except that it would involve the word "roast". And roast I did. But a quick word about roasting. It's important to pay attention to what you're roasting. In case that was too captain obvious for you, here's why. Everything has a different roasting speed. Some things take only 30 minutes while others take closer to an hour. Mushrooms and zucchini, for instance, take less time due to the fact that they're much less fibrous than other veggies and have a higher water content. Carrots take closer to an hour if you want them soft. This means that you would roast your carrots for about 30 minutes, add the other veggies, and put it all back in the oven until all 3 are where you like them. I opted to put all 3 in at the same time and for the intents and purposes of this recipe, it worked out well.
I'll just jump in.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: Approx. 30 minutes
You Will Need:
1. Two boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2. Butter
3. Brown sugar
4. 4 whole carrots
5. 2 medium yellow zucchini
6. Whole mushrooms (I bought the pre packaged kind and used the whole package)
7. Olive oil
8. 1 large cucumber
9. 3 bell peppers (red, orange, and yellow)
10. Balsamic vinaigrette
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Make sure your chicken is fully defrosted.
Make sure your butter is at room temperature/easily spreadable.
Roasted Veggies
1. Peel carrots and cut them into large chunks (cutting them in thirds is a good size).
2. Cut zucchini into wedges. Cut into quarters lengthwise, and then cut each quarter into wedges.
3. Rinse off/wipe off mushrooms. Leave whole.
4. In a large ziploc bag, mix veggies with about 2 tbsp of olive oil or however much is necessary to fully coat them. This prevents drying out in the roasting process.
5. Pour veggies in a 9x13 glass pyrex dish.
Chicken
1. I bought two whole chicken breasts and cut each in half lengthwise. This way they take less time to cook.
2. With a paper towel, pat the chicken breasts dry.
3. Spread a generous amount of butter on each side of each breast. The butter spreads much more easily on the outside of the breast. Do the best you can on the inside.
4. Sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar on each side of the breast. It won't burn in the oven, and if you think you have too much on there, you don't. Add more. Trust. And when I say "sprinkle", I mean create a layer on top of the chicken that prevents you from actually being able to see chicken through it.
1. Place the pyrex of veggies in the oven for 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes, remove from oven and lay chicken breasts over the top. While roasting, the chicken fats and juices will cover the veggies and infuse them with savory, salty, brown sugar-y goodness.
3. Put back in oven for another 20-30 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked.
Balsamic Bell Pepper and Cucumber Salad
1. Cut bell peppers into slices and cucumber into rounds.
2. Toss in bowl with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
3. Eat!
Depending on how large you want the servings to be, this makes enough to feed 4 people. Mind you, I ate half of it myself quite easily. But that's because it was so damn good, not because it doesn't make a lot of food. It's super easy and all the effort goes into cutting vegetables which is easy peasy. Once the chicken is in the oven, your work is done! If anybody makes this recipe, I want pictures and comments and suggestions or just let me know that you tried it! Enjoy :]
Next up is Alexa's Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!
-LG
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