Skillet Greek Chicken and Vegetables Over Couscous

It's no secret that I love Greek or Mediterranean-inspired cooking- many of the dishes I've shared here have that theme.  The flavors are so bright and vibrant- pungent garlic and onion, tangy lemon, rich tomato, briny olive, and the sharp tang of Feta cheese, when combined, make such a complex set of flavors!  This past week, I had some boneless skinless chicken breasts that I had defrosted and had some left after grilling the rest.  I decided to try a skillet dish and use all of my favorite Greek ingredients.  The result was SO tasty and delicious, I know I will be making this again and again! I used what I had on hand at the time, but when I make this again, plan to add more fresh vegetables, such as zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper and more spinach.  This would be good over rice or quinoa instead of the couscous, but I liked the couscous because it cooks so quickly- just 5 minutes.

Skillet Greek Chicken and Vegetables Over Couscous
Serves: 2-3

1 box couscous, prepared according to package directions (I used the Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil flavor from Near East)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved crosswise and cut into 2 inch pieces
Salt/pepper
Italian seasoning, to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken broth
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (or 1 cup fresh diced tomatoes)
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained well (water-packed, not marinated)
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, halved lengthwise
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese


1. Cook couscous according to directions, set aside.

2. Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. 

3.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and brown on both sides.  Remove from pan and set aside.

4. Reduce heat to medium.  Add onion and garlic to pan, stir and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add chicken broth and turn heat back up to medium-high; reduce slightly.

5.  Add tomatoes and artichoke hearts and continue to cook, about 3-4 minutes.  Add chicken and heat through.

6. Add olives, spinach and additional Italian seasoning, if desired.  Toss to incorporate and heat through about 1 minute.

7.  Serve over couscous, garnished with crumbled feta cheese.

Note: If adding additional vegetables, I would use about 2 cups of uniform bite-sized, and would cook them in a bit of olive oil after removing the chicken from the pan. Then move on to step 3, adding the garlic and onion to the vegetable mixture.

Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad

Summer again, and salads abound!  This one is a nice deviation from the typical chicken-topped salad, since the other main ingredient is strawberries, something you do not normally think of pairing with chicken!  It really is delicious though.  Salad dressing does double duty here as a marinade and salad topper.  Just a few salad ingredients, but very flavorful.

Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad
Serves: 2

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, halved crosswise
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp water
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp finely minced fresh mint (optional)
4 cups torn Romaine lettuce
2 cups baby spinach leaves
Red onion slices, to taste
1 cup hulled and halved strawberries
1/4 cup crumbled Feta cheese

Combine balsamic vinegar, water, oil, garlic, honey, and mint and whisk together.  Place 1/2 of mixture in a large ZipLock bag and add chicken; toss to coat, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.  Reserve the remainder.  After 30 to 60 minutes, remove chicken from marinade and grill.  Cool and slice into 1/2 inch pieces.

In a large bowl, combine Romaine lettuce, spinach, onion, and strawberries.  Drizzle reserved dressing and toss gently.  Add chicken and sprinkle with Feta cheese.

Kale and Vegetable Chopped Salad With Chicken

It's almost New Year's, and you know what that means...all those well-meaning resolutions like exercising and eating healthy.  Yes, I'd love to lose a few (or more) pounds myself, and eating healthy is a lot easier than resolving to exercise more, which I hate to do!  This is a salad that I whipped up today, and it turned out to be really delicious in addition to super healthy.  I found this bag of Lacinato Tuscan kale at Safeway this week and had to try it.  Lately, I've been seeing a lot of leafy greens made more available in the stores, and that is great to see!  I sometimes buy a big bag of baby kale at Costco, but there is so much in the bag that I always end up throwing some away.  Safeway now has smaller bags of different kind of greens- I saw collards, mustard greens, and chard in addition to the kale.  I will be trying the others soon, but decided to start with the kale since I am familiar with it.

This is a good "clean out the crisper" salad- you can use whatever veggies you have available.  I used what I had, which included broccoli, zucchini, bell pepper, onion, carrots and radishes, but just about any veggie that you would eat raw would be good here.  I actually grilled the onions and zucchini, since I was grilling the chicken anyway, but they'd be fine in the salad uncooked.  You can use chicken that is left over from last night's dinner, or even canned chicken or tuna instead of grilled chicken, but I like to grill a few chicken breasts to use in salad for the next few days.

Here's to eating healthy in the New Year!

Kale and Vegetable Chopped Salad With Chicken

4 cups greens (kale, spinach, chard, etc.), washed and roughly chopped
About 3 cups chopped vegetables of your choice.  I used: carrots, radishes, zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, green onions, and orange bell pepper.  I chopped mine to about 1/2 pieces.
1 cup or so of diced cooked chicken (lightly marinated in Italian salad dressing for about 10 minutes prior to grilling)
About 3-4 tbsp light/low-cal salad dressing (I used Newman's Own Light Balsamic Vinegar dressing)
2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese

Combine greens, vegetables, and chicken.  Drizzle on dressing and toss well to incorporate.  Sprinkle with feta cheese.

This salad can be made ahead when you use hardy greens like kale or chard, because they stand up well to the dressing and don't wilt like lettuce does.  Just make sure to use a variety of kale that is tender- some, like the standard curly variety that can be found in the bulk greens section of the grocery store, are a bit tough for salads.  Baby kale or lacinato are crisp but still tender.

Serves: About 4 large or 6 small servings

Summer Chicken and Grilled Corn Chowder

Ok.  I know.  Soup...in JULY??  Especially when most of the country has been dealing with 100+ degree temps for the last week plus??

Yeah, sorry.  Here in the Pacific NW, the summer has not been so harsh.  (Yet.)  Don't quote me, because in a couple of weeks I will probably be cursing myself for being so smug.  Yes, our warmest day so far was yesterday, which was about 90.  Really not so bad, by comparison.  I grew up where it routinely got to be 105 or more in the summer...with no central A/C.  So, yeah, this is still pretty livable (so far.)

Anyway.  Last week was the Fourth of July.  We spent the holiday with friends barbequing, hanging out, and doing fireworks in their cul-de-sac.  We potluck most years to their house, and this year I got off easy- a veggie tray with dip, some soda, and a dessert.  So I went to the store on the 4th for the veggies.  Holy cow, was it busy!!  While strolling through the produce section, I noticed the 6/$1 corn sale.  I had no plans to bring corn to the barbeque, but we all like corn, so I took advantage and bought 6 ears for $1.  I grilled some of it over this past weekend for dinner, but was left with 3 ears after that, just languishing in my kitchen.  Yesterday (Sunday) was fridge clean-out day, and I was faced with what to do with these last 3 ears of corn.  I decided to throw them on the grill, and figure out the rest later.

Later came today.  It's Monday...back to work, and I'm too tired to make a complicated dinner night.  Hubby took the kids out to grab dinner and a movie, and I pondered the grilled corn, as well as some other stray fridge ingredients, wondering if I could conjur up something out of them into something special...or at the very least, edible.  The answer, it turns out, was surprisingly simple.  This soup showcases fresh grilled corn, with a backdrop of creamy potatoes and a subtle hint of chicken.  The chicken is not the centerpiece here- that belongs to the corn, as it rightly deserves.  The chicken is just barely there, to provide a little structure and substance to an otherwise light, summery soup, making it seem more like a meal than a snack.  The flavor that comes from the grilled corn cannot be faked, so don't even think about substituting frozen or canned corn here- you will not get the same delicious results.  This is a light, yet substantial soup that delivers the essence of summer, right to your tastebuds.

To grill corn on the cob, remove husks and corn silk.  Wrap in foil and grill over a medium flame, turning occasionally, for 20 minutes.  Unwrap and cool, then cut corn from cobs.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Summer Chicken and Grilled Corn Chowder

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
 About 3 cups grilled fresh corn, cut from cob
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 carton (32 oz) chicken broth
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup half and half
salt and pepper to taste
chopped chives for garnish (optional)

1.  Heat vegetable oil in a large pot.  Add onions and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.

2.  Add corn and heat through.  Move vegetables to the side, and add chicken to the middle of the pot.  Brown chicken on one side, then turn and brown on the other.

3.  Add chicken broth and potatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.  Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender.

4.  Remove chicken from soup and set aside.  Using a hand-held blender, blend soup for just a few seconds at a time.  You don't want to puree the soup, just blend it a bit so that there are still whole pieces of corn and potatoes. 

5.  Shred chicken with a fork, and return to the soup and stir in.

6.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in half and half.

7.  Serve in bowls topped with chopped chives.

Chicken Stroganoff With Asparagus

Maybe it's the time of year, but I've been craving (and cooking) comfort foods lately.  I make a lot of soups this time of year, but I also get hungry for more substantial, stick-to-your-ribs dishes: meatloaf, potatoes, roasted meats. creamy, cheesy casseroles, and the like.  Last weekend I caved and made a meatloaf and au gratin potatoes.  SOOOOO good....and I've been paying for it in the form of a tighter waistband all week!  Time to lighten things up a bit!

Today is Saturday, which are always busy at my house.  My kids both have activities first thing in the morning, so usually my hubby and I tag-team: he takes one, I take the other, and we coordinate pick-up depending on who has what else going on.  Today I was all on my own, as my husband picked up a shift at work.  What an adventure!  Between getting everyone (meaning the kids) fed and out the door on time, I didn't even have time for breakfast for myself- had to grab a muffin from the grocery store bakery and eat it in the parking lot of the dance school!  By the time I got everyone picked up and home, I was STARVING.  I was soooo tempted to go get take-out, but as we are trying to stay on a budget, decided to stick to whatever is in my fridge and make it work.

I enjoy challenges like this, but not when I am REALLY hungry.  Whatever I was going to make had to be fast and easy.  I had about a cup of cooked wide noodles left over from a couple of nights before, so decided to start there.  I also had some uncooked thin-sliced chicken breasts, so I decided to put the two together.  I like beef stroganoff- why not chicken?  The rest of the ingredients came together quickly: sliced onion and mushrooms, some asparagus (because I bought a bunch on sale and need to use it up, so it's going in pretty much everything these days), and a sauce made from chicken broth, thickened with corn starch, and a little lite sour cream.  Because the noodles were already cooked, it came together in about 10 minutes.  And know what- it was delicious!  I love it when a plan comes together!

This was great comfort food that was not terribly unhealthy or fattening.  Adding the asparagus adds bulk and flavor to the dish, not to mention fiber and nutrients.  I used whole grain egg noodles, which are much healthier than regular noodles.  Organic chicken broth does not contain as much salt as a lot of other brands, so I was able to control the amount of salt by adding my own.  Light sour cream gives the sauce enough flavor and creamiess without adding much fat at all.  All in all, a very well-rounded dish- great flavor AND great ingredients!

I made a small batch, which was about 2 good sized servings.  Just double or triple ingredients to serve more.

Chicken Stroganoff With Asparagus

vegetable oil
1/2 of a good-sized boneless skinless chicken breast half, sliced thinly into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced asparagus
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup cooked wide noodles (mine were whole grain egg noodles)
About 3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp corn starch
1 tbsp light sour cream
salt/pepper to taste
Optional: fresh grated parmesan cheese for garnish

1.  Heat a couple tsp. vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions.  Stir and cook about 2 minutes.

2.  Add asparagus and cook, stirring, about 2 more minutes.

3.  Add mushrooms. Cook, stirring only occasionally, about 2 minutes, until mushrooms are browned.

4.  Remove vegetables from pan and set aside.  Heat a bit more oil in pan and add chicken.  Cook, stirring, until browned and cooked through.

5.  Add vegetables back to pan, along with garlic.

6.  Mix corn starch in a small bowl with about 1 tbsp of chicken broth.  Add the rest of the chicken broth to the pan, bring up to a boil, then add corn starch mixture.  Stir well to incorporate.  Mixutre should thicken to a gravy-like consistency.

7.  Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in sour cream.  Serve over hot noodles, garnished with parmesan cheese.

Chicken Breast Schnitzel

Ok, I have to be up front about the fact that this is NOT necessarily a healthy dish.  This is an every once in awhile dish, maybe once a month, if that.  But dang, it is GOOD!  Fried breaded chicken...it doesn't get much tastier than that!

I developed this recipe after a vacation we took a couple of summers ago to Leavenworth, WA.  It is a very cute little town in north central Washington state.  It was redeveloped some years ago to resemble a Bavarian village, and it is just adorable!  We rented a cabin just outside the town on the river and spent several days walking through the village browsing the shops and enjoying the parks and restaurants.  One night we went out to dinner at one of the German restaurants in the heart of the village.   My kids were VERY skeptical of this, because they had never been to such a restaurant and didn't believe they would have anything they'd like.  When I described to them what a schnitzel was, they reversed their opinions and decided they could eat there after all!

A true schnitzel, as it originated in Austria, is made of a veal cutlet, pounded to nearly paper thin and then breaded and fried.  According to Wikipedia, a Weiner Schnitzel is served with a slice of lemon and a side of potato salad.  Which begs the question how the hot dog chain ended up taking the name...but I digress.  Weiner Schnitzel Art is the term when it is made with pork in Germany, which it commonly is in present day.  The restaurant we went to served pork as their main schnitzel dish, but also offered a chicken variation.  My daughter, being 9 at the time, was picky and only ate about 12 foods total (one being chicken), so this was OK with her.  My son, who was more adventurous, chose the pork.  Both dishes were wonderful and amazing, and solicited the following comment: "You HAVE to make this at home!!!"

Thankfully, this is not a complicated dish.  Boneless skinless chicken breast is sliced in half crosswise (like cutting a deck of cards), then each half pounded until it is uniformly thin.  It is then dipped in seasoned flour, then into beaten egg, and then into bread crumbs before being fried until golden and crispy.  It is deliciously moist and juicy inside, crispy and flavorful on the outside, especially when served with a wedge of fresh lemon to squeeze over it as you eat.  This has become a favorite dinner at my house, and one I only serve, as I said, very occasionally, as I am not a big fan of frying things in oil.  But this is the dish my kids beg for, the one they answer first when asked "what do you want for dinner?"

I'm posting this for Beverly, who is my daughter's friend Mikayla's grandma.  We had Mikayla to dinner a few weeks ago and I made this, and she absolutely loved it, so Bev has made it a few times at home herself.  I'm always glad to pass on a popular recipe!

Chicken Breast Schnitzel
Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed of fat
2 cups flour
Couple dashes salt, pepper, and paprika
2 eggs, beaten
2.5 cups bread crumbs (I use panko- they are the crispiest)
Vegetable oil for frying
1 fresh lemon, sliced into wedges

Directions:

1.  With a very sharp knife, slice each chicken breast half crosswise (through its thickness).

2.  Place each slice of chicken between two layers of wax paper covered with a dish towel and pound with a rolling pin or meat mallet to a uniform thickness of about 1/4 nich.

3.  Mix flour, salt, pepper and paprika in a wide, shallow dish.  Beat eggs in a separate dish, and place bread crumbs in a third dish.  Line them up in the listed order, like a assembly line.

4.  Heat a couple of tbsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

5.  Dip one chicken slice into the flour mixture, coating well on both sides.  Dip into egg mixture, again coating it on both sides, then into bread crumbs.

6.  Fry chicken pieces in skillet until golden brown on each side, making sure to cook through.  When cooked, remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

7. Repeat for all chicken pieces, cleaning pan and adding new oil between batches as necessary.

8.  Serve hot with lemon wedges on the side.

We usually have ours with a noodle side that is made by Rice-a-Roni, Olive Oil and Herb blend.  Years ago, I used to buy a Near East boxed noodle dish that we all loved, but they don't seem to carry it anywhere anymore.  This is the closest I have found to it, and my kids really like it.

Next time I will be back to posting healthier dishes- sometimes you just gotta have that good comfort food!  As fried dishes go, you could do a lot worse than this one.  See you next time!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is the time of year for soup.  Deep into winter, I crave the warm comfort that a good soup delivers on a dark, cold winter day.  There are a lot of soups that I make, many I have worked on perfecting over the years, but this one remains not only one of the most simple, but the most delicous as well.

This recipe was inspired by Tyler Florence.  Tyler, in case you have been living in a cave for the past decade or so, is a Food Network chef/star.  I started watching him in 2000 when I was pregnant with my daughter, who is now 11.  I had some pregnancy complications, and was on bed rest for couple of weeks, and once I got tired of regular daytime televison (maybe a day and a half in), I started watching the Food Network.  Emeril, Sara Moulton, Bobby Flay, Tyler...they took me away from my troubles and made me imagine the wonderful dishes I could create in the kitchen- once I wasn't carrying the weight of several bowling balls in my abdomen, that is.  That is what got me hooked on cooking shows.  I learned so much, from cooking terms to some unusual ingredients, to knife techniques.  Tyler was my favorite.  It didn't hurt that he is all kinds of cute, and defintitely has a way with the camera!  I have enjoyed many of his shows, but my favorite remains the original Food 911, where Tyler comes to the aid of some poor unsuspecting cook with a kitchen disaster and helps them turn out an incredible dish worthy of accolades.  On this one particular show, he did chicken soup 3 different ways.  I know that one was chicken tortilla soup, one was a Thai chicken soup, and I believe that the third was a classic chicken noodle, but I'm not positive on that.  In any case, the chicken tortilla soup really grabbed me.  I had never had anything like it before, and it looked wonderful.  Tyler, though, he is a by-the-book chef, and he did everything from scratch, right down to the chicken broth.  But heck, I am a full-time working mom of 2 kids- I don't have the kind of time it takes to do that kind of thing.  So I started to think about ways I might take his recipe and modify it to use convenience ingredients, to make it easier and less time-consuming.  I think I did a pretty decent job.  I have been making this soup for several years now, and it never fails to get praise.  This was the first time I tried in in a slow cooker however.  There is some prep involved, but once that is done, it just cooks in the slow cooker and you don't have to worry about it until it is time to eat.

Ingredients:

About 4 cups cooked chicken, shredded (note: you can use rotisserie chicken, or cook your own.  I braise bone-in chicken breasts in chicken broth with some sliced onions until cooked through, cool, then remove skin and bones and shred.  I strain the broth and reserve to use for the soup.)

1 onion, sliced (see instructions)

3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 chipotle pepper (canned in adobo sauce), chopped finely.  These come in a small can in the Mexican foods aisle of the grocery store, usually near the enchilada sauce.  I usually freeze the leftovers, and just use what I need a little at a time later.  They keep very well this way.

1 can diced tomatoes (I prefer the fire-roasted ones)

1 quart chicken broth

 Vegetable oil

4 corn tortillas, sliced (see below instructions)

Instructions:

1.  Slice onions.  This is how I do it:

Cut off the root and stem ends of the onion.

Peel skin off under cold running water (helps to prevent your eyes from tearing up.

Slice onion lengthwise into thin slices.

2.  Heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil in a skillet until hot.  Add onions and reduce heat to medium.  Cook stirring often until onions are nicely browned and caramelized.

3.  Chop chipotle peppter into a fine mince.  Mince or press the garlic.

4.  Add garlic to onions and sautee 1 minute, being careful not to scorch garlic.  Remove from heat and dump onion mixture into slow cooker crock.

5.  Add chicken, broth, tomatoes, and chipotle pepper.  Stir to incorporate.  Cook on Low for 7 hours or High for about 4 hours.

 Note about the tomatoes: I like to puree mine with a stick blender.  You don't have to though.  If you don't want the tomato chunks without the work of pureeing them, you could use canned crushed tomatoes instead.

6.  While soup is cooking, slice up tortillas.  Stack tortillas and cut in half, then into strips

7.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Put tortilla strips on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tbsp. vegetable oil.  Toss to coat.  Separate tortilla strips and lay side by side on baking sheet, not touching.  Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until golden and crispy.  Remove from oven, toss and sprinkle with salt.  Set aside.

8.  When soup is done, ladel into bowls.  Top with tortilla strips and some shredded cheddar cheese.  Other optional toppings:  sour cream, diced avocado, chopped cilantro.

This is kind of spicy, due to the chipotle pepper.  If you don't like spicy foods, just use half a pepper or so.

This is a very warm, satisfying soup.  If you don't want the work of making your own tortilla strips, you can use bagged tortilla chips.  This will really warm you up on a long winter day.  I like to make a big batch to last for several days, though it usually only lasts a couple in my house, between my husband and my 15 year old son!

I hope you enjoyed this- I have many more soup recipes, which I hope I can share before the winter is up.  The way the weather is looking here in the Pacific Northwest, that may be a good long time, so I should be able to post at least a couple more!  Next time, though, I think I will show you a favorite chicken dish at my house, one that my kids BEG for.  Happy cooking til then!

Spatchcocked Roasted Chicken

 Roasted chicken is one of the most basic comfort foods, and a favorite in my house.  It is my daughter's dinner of choice for special dinners, and my son always looks forward to them because where there's roast chicken, there's gravy, and where there's gravy, there's mashed potatoes!  This is a bit of a twist on basic roasted chicken, because prior to roasting, the chicken is spatchcocked.  Yes, spatchcocked.  What the heck is that? It's just a fancy (humorous?) term for removing the backbone to essentially butterfly the chicken.  The advantage to this method is that it takes less time to roast than leaving the chicken whole.  For my chicken, I chose to marinate it prior to roasting, but you can do a simple roast without the marinade.

Roasted Garlic-Lemon Spatchcocked Chicken

Ingredients:

 1 whole roaster/fryer chicken, about 4 pounds
Olive oil, about 1/2 cup
4-5 cloves garlic
1 lemon
3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary, removed from stems and coarsly chopped (or use a tbsp or so of dried)
Salt and pepper (or grill seasoning, which is what I used)

Instructions:

1.  Place chicken breast side down on cutting board.  With a knife, make an incision along the right side of the backbone from top to bottom.

 2.  With kitchen shears (or a knife, if you prefer), cut along the incision all the way through.  This is easiest if you can find where the ribs meet the backbone, and cut right along where they join.

3.  Repeat with the other side of the backbone to remove it completely.

  4.  Wash lemon and slice 1/8 inch thick slices.  Crush garlic cloves to remove skins.

5.  Place lemon slices and garlic in a large self-sealing bag, along with the olive oil, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste.  From the outside of the bag, squeeze some of the lemon slices with your fingers to release the juice into the marinade.

6.  Add chicken to bag and seal.  Turn bag so that marinade evenly distributes and coats the chicken.

7.  Marinate at least one hour, but several is preferable.

8.  Place a rack in your roasting pan, or use a baking sheet with a wire rack.  Remove chicken from marinade, open chicken up and place on rack skin side up.

9.  Roast at 375 for 30 minutes.  After only 30 minutes, my chicken already looked like this:

10.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue roasting, approximately another 40-50 minutes, until meat thermometer registers 170 degrees in the thigh.  Baste occasionally while roasting.

11.  Allow to rest 10 minutes before carving.

This chicken was SO moist and tender, and had great flavor from the marinade.  I marinated mine about 4 hours before roasting.  I did not make a gravy this time, as we were having rice with this rather than potatoes, but you certainly could make a gravy with the pan drippings if you wanted to.

We all like the breast meat best, so had thighs and drumsticks for leftovers.  I made a simple chicken salad for sandwiches with those leftovers, and since the meat was infused with the garlic, lemon and rosemary from the marinade, I thought that adding pesto to the chicken salad would give it something a little different.  It was very tasty!  I used about 2 parts mayonnaise and 1 part plain yogurt until I got the consistency I wanted, then added a couple teaspoons of prepared pesto.  I really liked the zing that the pesto gave it.

This makes a great Sunday dinner or celebration dinner without too much fuss.  The chicken can go into the marinade early in the day, and then just pop into the oven a couple of hours before it's time to eat.  Skin-on chicken is not the healthiest of meals, but every once in awhile doesn't hurt.  I like the fact that it takes less time to roast when it's spatchcocked like this.

That's all for now- next time I will be back with an interesting side dish that I hope you will like.