Monday, May 25, 2009

EASY ROASTED CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES

I made this one about a week ago. My sister was a little skeptical, but tasted it and absolutely loved it!! It's a great one to do if you don't have a lot of time to prepare a meal. You can do everything in advance, then throw it in the oven an hour or so before you eat! You can also interchange ingredients to make it fit your family.
INGREDIENTS:
1-2 lbs chicken- any kind you like- I do chicken breasts- Cut up into bite size pieces
1/2 small red pepper- chopped
1/2 onion- grated or chopped
2 celery ribs- bite size pieces
4 carrots-peeled and chopped into bite size pieces- or use about 12 baby carrots, chopped.
3 potatoes- peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
1 can diced tomatoes
2 garlic cloves- minced
2 TB butter cut into small pieces
salt, pepper, basil- or any kind of spice you like.
DIRECTIONS:
*Line a 9x13 baking dish with foil.
*Place all your ingredients into it, and mix well
*Cover pan with foil
*Roast for 1 hour or until the chicken is done and veggies are tender.
*375 degrees serves well over six.

CHICKEN PARM PASTA TOSS

This one is really SUPER simple, and SUPER delicious. Everyone that tried it really loved it.
INGREDIENTS:
1LB CHICKEN- Cut up into bite size pieces
1 C. GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE- I actually used Mozzerella as well.
3 TB OLIVE OIL
1 POUND PENNE PASTA
2 TSP. POULTRY SEASONING
SALT AND PEPPER
2-3 GARLIC CLOVES- Grated
1 RED ONION-I grate it with the largest size hole, so that my kids who "dont like onions" cant tell they're in it.
2 PINTS GRAPE TOMATOES
LOTS AND LOTS OF FRESH CHOPPED BASIL- dried is fine too.

DIRECTIONS:
*Cook pasta to Al Dente - Remember to put lots of salt and some olive oil into the pot.
*Drizzle your Olive Oil in a LARGE skillet, once the oil is heated, cook chicken with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning until cooked through- til there's no pink left in the center- about 4 minutes.
*Once the Chicken is cooked, place the garlic and onion into the pot, and cook until soft- about 5 minutes.
*Once this is done, add the tomatoes, and cover. Let this simmer until the tomatoes burst. (You can help stragglers along with a potato masher or a whisk. Once this is done, add the cooked noodles and cheese, then toss. THEN YOU ARE DONE!
This was a Rachel Ray recipe that I alternated a little bit.
I made some garlic bread, and green beens to go along with this, and it was SO SUPER GOOD!