Sunday Dinner

For dinner tonight I decided to make something new. And since chicken and asparagus were both on sale at Meijer this week, I decided to do something with them. I searched through my cookbooks and found a recipe for "garlic marinated chicken" that had grilled chicken, asparagus, and potatoes. I already had some rosemary balsamic vinaigrette that I had made earlier in the week, so I decided to use that as the marinade instead. I added 1 head of garlic (I know what you're thinking, but I was in the mood for GARLIC, and it was really good, I promise), minced, and it was perfect. And the whole meal took me about 20~25 minutes, excluding marinating time. And the potatoes were perfectly the crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, the asparagus was nice and tender but not overcooked, and the chicken was not tough at all! I kept having to check to make sure it was cooked all the way through because it was so tender. And don't worry, it was totally cooked through. Anyway, you have to try this out at home. Most ingredients are really affordable, and the rest were on sale. But you can replace the fresh rosemary for dried (just use about 1/4 t instead of the 1T), and you can totally use a cheaper vegetable like broccoli instead of the asparagus. Like I said, I was just lucky because it was on sale. And feel free to use yukon gold or russet potatoes instead of the baby potatoes. Just make sure and cut them into bite-sized pieces so they will cook quickly.

Garlic Marinated Chicken Dinner
Serve 2~4 (depending on how hungry you are;))

and that is, in fact, steam rising from the potatoes. mmmmmmmm.

2 medium sized chicken breasts, cut into 2 equal pieces horizontally, and pounded flat to make them even and thin.
1 lb aparagus
1 lb small red potatoes

coarse salt
pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
olive oil

Rosemary garlic vinaigrette:

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 head of garlic
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt,
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 450°. In a deep dish, place the chicken breasts , trying not to overlap them. Pour in about 1/2 C of the vinaigrette over them, turn them over to coat. Let sit for at least 30 minutes.
2. Cut the potatoes in half, or if they are small ones leave them whole. Place them in a 9x13 baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper, and toss to coat. Place them in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.
3. Snap the bottom off of the asparagus and peel the skin off of the last inch or so. Cut on the bias every 1.5~2 inches. Toss with salt, pepper, olive oil, and minced garlic. Place on a cookie sheet and place in the oven with the potatoes during the last 10 minutes.
4. On a large skillet heated to medium high, pour about 1 T oil. Once the pan is hot, place the chicken breasts on the skillet after shaking off the excess marinade. Don't move them around. Once the bottom is browned, flip them over and cook through (but don't over cook them).
5. Arrange them all on a large platter and let everyone serve themselves.