baked chicken with onions, potatoes, garlic, and thyme

(Apologies in advance for crappy pics)
And so who would've thought I've actually been cooking and not blogging? Well, admittedly, I didn't cook this one, I just supervised. But this dish is easy enough to throw together (literally, you just throw it all in the roasting pan) for your kitchen illiterate husband to make. And based on your meal standards, this may or may not be a complete meal. I would round it out with a nice green salad to make it complete. But again, easy. It's a set it and forget it kind of meal.

Hubs was actually the one to notice this recipe in my Everyday Food magazine from October. I often find myself flipping quickly through this magazine, but hubs found a bunch of recipes he wanted to try to make himself. This was the first one he tackled. After thoroughly enjoying this meal, here is our version adapted to our liking.

BAKED CHICKEN WITH ONIONS, POTATOES, GARLIC, AND THYME
Source: Adapted from Everyday Food, October 2009

2-4 bone-in chicken breasts (1 per person)
1-1 1/2 lb new potatoes, halved (quartered if large)
1 red onion, cut into eighths
1 head garlic, cloves separated but left unpeeled
6 sprigs thyme
2 lemons, quartered
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
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1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Throw chicken, potatoes, onion, garlic, thyme and lemons in roasting pan.
3. Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
4. Drizzle the olive oil mixture over chicken and vegetables. Toss to combine.
5. Turn chicken skin side up.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Pop into oven and roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 50 minutes.

To serve, we squeeze those roasted lemons on top of our chicken. To die for. Enjoy!

Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

I know I haven't blogged in forever, but I still follow all of my favorite blogs in my google reader. Yesterday I came across this recipe on Elizabeth's Edible Experience. I've had 3 bananas over-ripening on my counter for a week (since I bought them to go with my Cheerios, and then suddenly, ran out of Cheerios) and was going to try a different recipe with flax seed in it but haven't gotten around to purchasing it. So when I saw this recipe, I knew I had all of the ingredients on hand, and I went ahead and made this last night.

The first thing I can say about this recipe is that it is now replacing my old standby. If you love the combination of banana and chocolate, you can't go wrong with this one. And it's a healthier version to boot. Second, the cook time for this recipe is too long, by about 15 minutes. My old standby recipe only calls to be baked for 60-65 minutes. When I saw this recipe called for about 1 hour 15 minutes, I pulled out my old recipe card to compare because I thought it seemed like a long time, and I thought Elizabeth's version looked a little on the dry side. I prefer my banana bread super moist. So I decided to set my timer for about 60 minutes and do the wooden pick test then. Sure enough, it seemed perfectly baked at around 65 minutes so I took it out. After cutting into it about an hour later (I just couldn't wait to try it), it was still nice and warm, but super moist. So I would recommend doing the same.



MARBLED CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD
Source: Elizabeth's Edible Experience (make sure you visit Elizabeth's blog for some great step-by-step photos!)
Adapted from: Cooking Light

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
2 eggs
1/3 cup low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
cooking spray
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1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 1/2 in. x 4 1/2 in. loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Beat together the butter and the sugar. Add the mashed banana, eggs and sour cream. Mix well until incorporated.
4. Add flour mixture in about 3 additions and mix well.
5. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips on high heat for about 1-1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds. Cool slightly.
6. Add 1 cup of the batter to the chocolate and stir well to combine.
7. Layer the batter with the chocolate batter in your prepared loaf pan.
8. With a knife, stir gently to swirl the batters together.
9. Pop in the oven and check it after about 60 minutes and do the wooden pick test. I personally didn't want mine to come out clean, but with some moist crumb on it. If not done, continue baking and checking at 5 minute intervals.