Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Back to Basics: Basil Lemon Chicken

Chicken, lemon juice, and basil leaves. Plus some seasoning blend. That's it...easy peasy. 
I was thinking we have been getting a little sloppy with our healthy eating lately, adding too much starch and cheese, so I am paring it down. Tonight I prepared the food very simply: roasted vegetables, baked yams, oven baked chicken. Nothing fancy, but super flavorful and satisfying.    
I cut the chicken breasts into three long strips and seasoned them all over with a pepper-garlic-salt blend. Then I seared them in a skillet and finished them in the oven for about 30 more minutes. I drizzled on some lemon juice and garnished the chicken with a few lemon slices for effect, then tossed in several basil leaves to add aroma. 
Meanwhile, I coated the yams in olive oil, seasoned it with the blend and let them bake for 45 minutes. During the last 20 minutes, I added a pan full of broccoli that had been drizziled with olive oil, seasoned with the blend with a little Italian seasonings added in for more flavor. When it was done, I sprinkled on some Parmesan cheese just before serving. Of course, I put some butter on the yam...it makes it so yummy! I believe in real butter, real sour cream, etc., not the non-fat stuff. You don't have to use a ton of it, and its real and healthier. 
The yams, broccoli and basil all came from our SLO Veg box, just not all recently. I had so much broccoli at one point that I froze a bag of it. So that was defrosted tonight and roasted. The basil is a "living" plant that is on my kitchen window sill in a mug of water. I could plant it outside, but right now it look really pretty in the window and it is thriving, so no hurry.



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