Chicken Something

Challenger Brandi offers a good “lesson” in keeping a well-stocked kitchen. It can really be one of the keys to make cooking at home a breeze any day of the week.

The answer to “what’s for dinner” around here is often “chicken something.” Not in a creepy mystery meat sort of way. We eat a lot of chicken so dinner is often “chicken something” – meaning at the heart of the meal will be chicken and I’ll figure out what I’m going to do with it later.

Last night, we had chicken something. And the something turned into quite something. I had two chicken breasts thawing in the refrigerator in a baggy. I realized I had a package of fresh rosemary and oregano leftover from a meal last week and half a lemon leftover from the previous night’s meal. So I stuffed the bag full of herbs, squeezed and then sliced the lemon and put that in the bag, added a couple cloves of garlic, kosher salt and cracked pepper, and a little drizzle of olive oil. The entire process took less than five minutes. And then I let it sit all day.

After work I tossed the contents of the baggy on top of some fingerling potatoes and baby carrots that were in the refrigerator and baked for about an hour at 375.

It turned out really well, the house smelled amazing and the food tasted even better. Plus, there was extra chicken so I can toss that on top of a salad for lunch today.

It was one of those meals when I’m really thankful I keep a fairly well-stocked kitchen. I’ve yet to go to the grocery store this week, yet I had more than enough things on hand to whip up a meal that tasted and looked like a lot of planning had gone in to it.