Chicken Inspiration Meal

There are several blogs I read every time they are updated and I also read most of the comments left on them. Sonya Ann from A Mom, money, and more had a recent post highlighting a simple chicken recipe. (Her recipe will be tried another day, since I did not have one of the key ingredients handy and I refuse to make a special shopping trip for 1 ingredient.)

A few people offered suggestions for equally easy chicken dishes (and I will try each of them) but Elephant's Child from  her blog of the same name left a comment for a quickie dish and I had everything on hand to prepare it.  I used it as inspiration for what became a new chicken rotation dish.

I just copied and pasted her recipe here, then I will explain what I did differently.

Brown chicken pieces in a pan.
Throw in:
A chopped onion.
A can of tomato soup.
A good dollop of seedy mustard.
A tablespoon of vinegar.
A couple of teaspoons of thyme.
Stir and forget for half an hour or so.

I thought I had taken 2 packs of 2 breasts out of the freezer to thaw, but once they started softening a little I found I had 2 ridiculously large bone-in chicken breasts. Because of their size I knew I was going to have to cook them more to the tune of "or so" rather than the recommended half hour.  I also figured I would need a little more cooking liquid to fully cook those breasts.  And since I was already going to have a pot dirty, why not add more stuff to it and make cooking supper a tad easier.

2 gargantuan chicken breasts (bone in) or 4 large breasts
2 tablespoons olive or coconut oil
1 large onion, sliced
3 large carrots, sliced
4 medium potatoes, sliced
1 soup can half filled with dry red wine and half water, or just water, or just wine
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dried thyme (additional fresh thyme if you have it, for garnish)
salt and pepper as desired

In a large lidded pot, brown the chicken breasts in the olive oil until all the sides are a uniform pale brown.  Remove the chicken from the oil and stir in the onions, followed by the carrots and then the potatoes.  When the veggies have softened a bit put the chicken on top of them and pour the soup over the chicken.  Add the additional liquid, the mustard, vinegar and the thyme. Put the lid on,  turn the heat down to mid low and let it cook unstirred for about 15 minutes, then give it a few gentle stirs to mix everything together. I tasted just the sauce and added about 3 or 4 grinds of fresh pepper. Put the lid back on and cook it until the chicken is tender and the veggies are soft and the sauce thickens.

This is just about the easiest chicken ever and is so delicious. All I had to add was some steamed broccoli and we called it a complete meal.  We both agreed we want to eat this often.  This really is a keeper! I am going to experiment a little and see if I can come up with a way to get those same flavors as a paleo option.  I really don't know why, because I am flunking paleo eating right now.(  It's rice's fault! Well, rice and the Greek Food Festival)

Meanwhile if you are not paleo and want some seriously good tasting chicken try this.  And while you are at it hop over and blog visit both Sonya Ann and Elephant's Child.

Next up: Sonya Ann's orange chicken followed by Sluggy's quick chicken