Tuesday, October 18, 2011

You Had Me At "Maple- Mustard"...

Hey everyone! Ready for a recipe that'll be sure to please, is healthy, and is pretty easy to make?! Thought so. 

Introducing Maple- Mustard Baked Chicken! Oh-em-gee... Delish and just what I needed to settle in at home after a long day of running around for work. I also snagged a super easy recipe for sweet potato fries to accompany my chicken, threw some sauteed veggies into the mix, and finished it off with non-fat apricot  Greek yogurt and blackberries for dessert.

I. Assemble the ingredients.

For the chicken dish: 
- 3 tablespoons of dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B (I couldn't find it and used plain syrup... turned out fine though I'm sure the Grade B would have added a bit more sweetness!)
- 2 tablespoons of peanut oil, divided
- 3/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 package of chicken tenders
- 1 1/2 cups of fresh, whole-wheat bread crumbs

For the sweet potato fries:
- 1 small-medium sized sweet potato                       
 - A pinch or two of sea salt
 - Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
 - Quality olive oil
   
For the veggies:
- A handful of fresh, chopped veggies for sautéing
- Olive oil to drizzle on the pan
- Garlic and black pepper, to taste

For Dessert:
- 1 serving size of non-fat apricot Greek yogurt
- 3 blackberries, washed and dried

II. In a bowl, whisk the mustard, maple syrup, 1 tablesoon of peanut oil,
thyme, pepper, and salt together. Add the chicken and coat evenly. Then
allow to marinate for 30 minutes to 6 hours.
I marinated mine for about 35 minutes.
                                               
III. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. (The chicken recipe calls for 400 and the sweet potato recipe calls for 450 so I split the difference. Worked out for me!)

Wash the potato (and dry it off very well!) then slice it into large "fries". Slices should be 1/2 an inch to 3/4 of an inch thick. Place them on a baking sheet. (And don't forget to space them out and to leave half the sheet for your chicken!)

Sprinkle with your sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Drizzle them with olive oil.

Now that the oven is heated, bake them for ten minutes. After ten minutes, take them out, flip them and put them back in for another ten or fifteen.


IV. Back to the chicken.

For the first ten minutes of baking the sweet potato fries, focus on your chicken. Combine your breadcrumbs and the rest of your peanut oil then coat your chicken.

When you take your sweet potato fries out to flip, add your chicken to the pan.

Again, bake for ten to fifteen minutes then take out the fries. The chicken will probably need a few more minutes of cooking so you can do as I did and place the piping hot fries in a bowl, sprinkle them with cinnamon, cover them with a napkin, and place them in the microwave to keep them warm.
                                             (Note: You're not turning the microwave on here- Just using it place your 
                                              fries for a few minutes.)

V. While your chicken continues cooking and your fries are being kept warm,
go ahead and drizzle a pan with a little olive oil and sautee your veggies. Throw a pinch of garlic and some pepper in the mix if you wish!

The veggies and chicken should be finished around the same time so plate them along with your delish sweet potato fries!




VI. Almost finished! Pour your yogurt into a bowl and top with your blackberries....

                                                                                                     Eat up! 


I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I did! Also, unless you're sharing, you'll probably have some chicken left over. It goes quite nicely with rice for lunch the next day! :)


I'd love to take all he credit for this delightful meal but I simply can't. Here are links to the two websites I found them on:
- Maple- Mustard Chicken: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/maple_mustard_baked_chicken.html and
- Sweet Potato Fries: http://www.instructables.com/id/Perfect-Oven-Sweet-Potato-Fries/?ALLSTEPS

2 comments:

  1. The meal looks pretty good!
    I am a little clumsy with the kitchen, but it is very nice explained, so I will try this weekend if anyone comes to my place for lunch or dinner (I'm also so lazy for cooking to myself :) )

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haha... I'll admit there are many meals easier to make but this one is really tasty! My mouth waters every time I re-read this post! :)

    ReplyDelete