lemon pepper chicken and sides

The other night Leah came over and I made us dinner and we had some girl time. Leah requested something moderately healthy, like a good girl, and I decided it would be a good time to try spaghetti squash. 

Apparently, I don't know what food is in season in each respective season because there was no spaghetti squash to be found at Byerly's. (side note: shopping at a new grocery store is SO HARD. everything is all backward and it takes me twice as long to find things and gives me so much anxiety) 

SO, after stumbling around the grocery store, I decided to just go with a fresh but simple chicken recipe. Enter: lemon pepper chicken (with rosemary). 

Things you'll need (for 3 chicken breasts, you can adjust accordingly):
2 lemons (duh)
1 tsp pepper (double duh)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp garlic (I prefer fresh)
1/2 tbsp rosemary (optional, but SO GOOD)
2-3 tbsp olive oil

I just kind of made this up on the fly, so these measurements are approximations.
The only thing you may have to watch is the olive oil to lemon ratio: I'd start with the lemon juice, and then add olive oil one by one until you have enough total liquid to coat the chicken breasts. Too much olive oil and it ends up smelling more oily-and not tasting as lemony- if you catch my drift.

whisk everything BUT the rosemary together, and drizzle over pierced chicken breasts.
sprinkle rosemary on top.
let marinate for at least 30 minutes.



Since the chicken takes a bit longer to marinade but is quick to cook (at least on the foreman), I decided to make a snack/side of Kale chips.

 

Things you'll need:

1 bunch of kale

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

 

Wash and dry kale, then tear into small "chip" sized pieces. (I prefer to take out the main 'vein' of each leaf- the piece that runs up the center).

Toss lightly in olive oil and spread on a cookie sheet in one layer.

Sprinkle salt over the kale.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes (I fluffed once halfway through and rotated cookie sheets since I was making a lot)

Sorry but I'm not sorry if you're grossed out by my cat's snout in the kale. 

He is quality control around these parts. 

But really, besides bugs, few things germ/health wise "gross" me out- cat hair included.

BONUS: pour yourself a glass of sprite in a wine glass, to feel fancy. Squeeze a tsp of extra lemon in, and then slice up 2 lemons to make it pretty.

I also made sides of roasted cauliflower and steamed broccoli.
I think you guys can handle steaming broccoli without a step-by step.
As far as the cauliflower goes-- I always avoided cauliflower on vegetable trays, that is until I tried it roasted.
holy. cow. is it tasty.. sprinkle a little salt on top afterwards and it's a fantastic veggie.
I chopped it up into equal pieces and roasted it at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.. or until it's started to turn brown and can be pierced with a fork.

chicken on the foreman

Ta da! so tasty. Lemon on top of the chicken was purely for looks.

SUPER simple recipes, and if you're anything like me, you already have salt, pepper, a head of garlic (maybe just me....) and frozen chicken on hand, so it's super low cost too.