9-26-11 Dinner Blog
Tomato-Herb Chicken, Roasted Broccoli, and a Side Salad
The dinner prep was soooo easy. I spent about 10 minutes putting everything in the crock pot and set the crock pot on low for 6 hours. Midday I put rice in the rice cooker. Once we were home again, I began the final prep for dinner. I spilled the broccoli, which I had cut up yesterday, (Oh, I forgot to add that to my pre-prep list in my last blog update), on to a lightly sprayed roasting pan, and put it into a 450 oven for 4 minutes. I stirred the broccoli and put back in the oven for another 3 – 4 minutes and then pulled it out.
While the broccoli was in the oven, I made a small side salad with greens, figs, (yes, they are so amazing right now!), tomato, and a few carrots that had been cut up for Thursday’s soup. I also sprinkled some raw buckwheat on my salad and my husband’s and topped with the no oil vinaigrette. Had to disclose the buckwheat as you might wonder what it was in the picture. It is very healthy and just adds crunch…
I portioned the rice, chicken dish, and broccoli and served! So very easy!
4 Servings of Tomato-Herb Chicken, Roasted Broccoli, and a Side Salad
The Verdict
The meal was a bit bland. I usually use canned tomatoes and they have added salt. Instead I used the shelf stable tetra packed tomatoes (it is like a coated cardboard box). There is no salt added to these tomatoes. Each serving only had 10 g of sodium! That said, I had to add a teaspoon of salt, divided across all our plates, at the dinner table which greatly enhanced the flavor. My husband and son rated the meal a 7. But my daughter the tough critic, liked the mild flavor. She rated it an 8.5! Go figure!
In asking more probing questions, I may have been able to improve the flavor using pasta instead of rice. Also, I wonder if I had added a bit of grated cheese if that would have added some flavor. Lastly, if I had shredded the chicken and put it back in the crock pot for 15 minutes before serving, would the chicken have absorbed more flavor from the juice? Hard to know.
The broccoli was well received. I sprinkled about 1 t of minced onion, thyme, salt, and Old Bay Seasoning. Everyone liked the flavor. My husband and I loved our side salad and my kids at theirs with no complaints – no news is good news!
So an easy night but only OK results…
BusyLivesHealthyEats 