9-21-11 Dinner Blog

If you have noticed, I am a day behind this week.  This is no surprise to me – I always feel a day behind.  But because of today’s extraordinary craziness and mandatory “To Do’s” that were not on my list when I woke up, today’s dinner victory was all the more sweet.  Talk about easy – this one takes the cake!  I just warmed everything up and served. This is the pay off for planning and pre-prep!

I pre-heated the oven, put the chicken on a roasting pan, and just for kicks, sprinkled some more chili powder on half of the chicken, and popped the pan in the oven.

I got the squash, rest of the beets, greens, and the last of the pineapple and bell peppers out of the refrigerator.  Recall I cooked the squash on Sunday so I just had to warm it up.  I peeled the skin off the beets, cut them and warmed them too.  Then I portioned the greens, pineapple and bell pepper, topped with a bit of the no-oil balsamic vinaigrette.

Within 10 minutes the chicken was heated through, the sides warm and ready, and we sat down to eat!

The Verdict

The chili powder didn’t sweeten the deal for my daughter whose rating remained a 7. She reminds me this is not a bad rating, it just means it is not one of my top dishes.  Everyone else’s ratings remained high.  Though the chili powder was a nice change, the kids could only have one piece of chicken before their mouths got too hot. On the other hand, my husband and I really liked the “zip”.  In the future, I may just lightly sprinkle some chili powder on the adult’s portions once they are on the plate.

So you can’t please all of the people all of the time, but you can try to please most of them!

 

 

Recipe

Oven-Fried Chicken, Roasted Beets, Fresh Green Beans and a Side Salad

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

Recipe can be doubled and served again 2 days later. No need to reinvent this meal!

4-6 Beets

1 Acorn Squash

1.75 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1 C Bread crumbs

1/2 C Finely shredded cheddar cheese – I use goat’s milk cheddar

¾ t chili powder

½ t salt

Olive oil or canola oil spray

Water in a small bowl

 

Make ahead of time:

Preheat oven to 400

1. Wash beets and cut off root and stems
2. Cover beets in foil
3. Place beets in a foil lined roasting pan
4. Cut acorn squash in half the long way, scrape out the seeds and put meat-side down in a roasting pan with 1/2″ of water
5.  Pop both pans in the oven for 1 hr.
6. Check for doneness: A fork should pierce the beet easily
7. Place beets, still wrapped in their foil, in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them
8. Using a tablespoon, scrape out acorn squash meat and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

 

 

For the Chicken:

Preheat oven to 350

1. Wash and cut the chicken into smaller pieces
2. Mix remaining ingredients in a large bowl
3. Create an assembly line of chicken, water, breading, and a lightly sprayed roasting pan.  (If you are making a double batch you will need 2 roasting pans)
4. Wet the chicken, dredge in breading and place on roasting pan
5. Repeat until all chicken is breaded and on roasting pan
6. Slide into oven and set timer for 20 minutes

 

For the rest of the meal:

1. Take the beets out of the refrigerator.
2. Peel off foil and with your fingers peel off beet skin
3. Slice and place in a microwave-safe bowl
4. Heat for 1-2 minutes
5. Warm squash
6. Set aside for serving
7. Portion greens on each plate and add whatever salad fixings you have on hand

 

When chicken is ready, portion on each plate and serve. Compare to your favorite chicken nugget and see if we aren’t on to something…