Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Ghost's Kitchen: One-Tray Baked Chicken

What's Cooking Today?
One-Tray Italian Baked Chicken, Green Beans, and Red Potatoes

Hello, and welcome to another segment of

When does good food become great food?  When you know what you're doing and put a little bit of care into the preparation.  When does great food become even greater?  When it's EASY to make.

Sometimes you just want to sit back and relax while you're cooking.  Rather than trying to figure out how long it's going to take you to get everything done so it comes out on time, wouldn't it be great to just have everything go in one single pot or dish so all you have to do is turn it on and let it take care of itself?  Well that's what we've got in store for you today.   This one-tray Italian baked chicken dish is extremely easy that anyone can do provided you can wait for an hour to eat.  Fun fact, this was actually the very first meal that my wife made me while we were dating but now I make it for her semi-often.

Gather your ingredients and tools
  • 2-3 Thawed Chicken Breasts (Boneless Skinless)  - If you need more see my note at the end.
  • 5-7 Small Red Potatoes
  • 1 Can of Cut Green Beans (Don't get that nasty French Style junk)
  • 1 Packet of Italian Salad Dressing Mix.  (The Dry stuff not actual salad dressing)
  • 1 Stick of Butter
  • 11X15 or 9X13 Casserole Dish 
  • Oven Mitt(s)
  • Cutting Board
  • Knife
  • Can Opener
  • Microwave Save Bowl
  • Aluminum Foil

1. Preheat Oven to 350°F
  

2. Clean Chicken and Place in Center of Casserole Dish
Make sure your chicken doesn't have any big chunks of fat or anything undesirable still on them.  Simply use your cutting board if you need to do so.


3. Open Can of Green Beans, Drain, and Line One Side of the Casserole Dish
Simply open your can, and drain the brine water inside into the sink.  If your green bean can of choice has a particularly strong brine then you may want to consider rinsing the green beans first.  Sometimes more wallet-friendly green beans will have a strong brine that will still come through even after seasoning.  Once drained of excess water just line one side of the casserole dish and discard the can.

4. Wash and Cut your Potatoes
Wash your potatoes gently first so that there is no dirt debris left on them.  Place them on your cutting board and cut them into small bite-sized pieces.  Depending on the size of your potato this could mean cutting it into 4-10 pieces.  Only cut up one at a time... read step 5 for an explanation why

5. Line Other Side of Casserole Dish with Potato
Simply place your cut potatoes in the empty space filling up the rest of the dish.  Don't over crowd them by placing two layers just sort of put them all there.   Place one cut up potato in at a time.  The reason is because potato sizes vary and you don't want to cut up all of your potatoes then find out there is no room for all of them.  In Step 4's picture I had seven potatoes but could only use six of them.

6. Open Italian Salad Dressing Packet and Sprinkle Over All the Dish
Open your packet and make sure that the seasonings are spread out evenly over the entire dish.  You don't want a lot of seasoning on one item and not the others.


7. Melt Butter in Microwave.
Place your stick of butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat till completely melted.  Should only take about 20-40 seconds. 

8. Pour Butter Over Dish
Pour your melted butter over the entirety of the dish.  Make that almost everything gets hit with some bit of butter.  If you miss a tiny spot or two don't worry that's why it pools at the bottom of the dish.  It should look similar to the following picture when you are done.

9. Cover With Aluminum Foil and Bake
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in the heated oven for 1 Hour


10. Serve and Enjoy!

NOTE:  If you plan on making this for four people who have a good appetite you may find that this isn't quite enough vegetables.  What I do in this instance is still place all four chicken breasts in one dish and prepare as I have done before but I will also prepare a second small casserole dish and fill it with half green beans, half red potatoes, 3/4ths of a packet of Italian salad dressing mix, and 3/4ths of a stick of melted butter.  I would then cover it and place it in the oven with the other dish to cook for the same amount of time.

I hope you all enjoy this as much as my family has!

This is Ghost, fading into the darkness!
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If you want to see my other food topics and recipes then simply click here!

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