Roast Chicken Half Breast with Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes and Parmesan Dish Kale and Marinated Onion and Tomato Salad

BIG TITLE, delicious dish!  If you have been following my humble little blog as of late, you know I have been very much about time-saving and one-pot wonder dishes. This is one of my best, if you ask me.  I have made this twice, the first being featured in a previous blog, and this one, different from the last, was my favorite. During very busy times, one-pot or one-skillet wonder dishes are not only time-savers, but they can be delicious and healthy and flavorful with minimal clean up afterward. This dish is far simpler than the previous dish, and incredibly flavorful. Let me stop talking.  Let's get to it!  Come join me!

Ingredients:

1 package with two chicken half breasts, boneless (Mine also had the skin on)

1 large yellow onion, sliced into discs (or 2 medium onions)

3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped

1 tablespoon Herbs De Provence

2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary and sage, and 6 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped

salt and pepper

1/2  pound baby Yukon Gold potatoes (1/2 pound for two servings)

6 baby sweet Italian chiles, slivered

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 Note:  Make the salad and vinaigrette before starting the chicken!*

Marinated Tomatoes, Onion and Kale Salad:

1/2 red onion, slivered or coarsely chopped

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved  (I used a baby tomato medley)

1 cup finely chopped kale

1 Fresno chile, sliced into thin discs

1 tablespoon Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

To a bowl, add 1 clove grated garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, 1 pinch red pepper flakes, 1 rounded teaspoon whole grain mustard with white wine (or, whole grain garlic mustard with white wine), 3 tablespoons champagne vinegar and 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.  Whisk vigorously to combine. Add the salad ingredients to the bowl and allow them to marinate for an hour*. 

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.  

In a high-sided oven-safe skillet or a shallow oven-safe pot, add the onion discs and drizzle the extra virgin olive oil atop each disc. In its packaging or on a plate, season all sides of the chicken half breasts with salt and pepper. Add a pinch of the Herbs De Provence (or, Herbes De Provence) to each of the onion discs. Place the seasoned half breasts atop the onion bed. Sprinkle both sides of each chicken breast with some of the Herbs De Provence. Next, sprinkle the fresh herbs atop the breasts. Finally add the potatoes and the chile slivers around the inner perimeter of the skillet or pot. Drizzle those with evoo, season with salt and pepper. 

 Chicken, potatoes and chiles over onion bed seasoned and oven ready!

Place the oven safe skillet or oven safe pot onto the middle rack and slow-roast for 45-minutes at 350-degrees.  If you do not have that much time, roast at 375-degrees for 35 minutes.  I recommend the first. The chicken is done when you just barely poke it with a fork and the juices run clear.  the entire chicken half breast will be aromatic and quite moist. The hotter and shorter the temperature, however, the drier the chicken breast. 

So, if you have the time to slow roast, as I recommend, which means the entire dish can be done in just under one hour, prep time included, you will have an amazingly aromatic dinner for two.  It looks and smells fantastic right out of the oven!

This next step is entirely optional, and I truly went with it the last time I'd made this, but if you have another fifteen minutes, crank up the stove top to medium-high, remove the potatoes, chiles and chicken, skim or pour off some of the fat, by at least half, add half a cup or so of wine and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to the onions, bring it all to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.  Simmer for another fifteen minutes to reduce the wine and condense the flavors.  You can serve the caramelized onions with the chicken, as I did in my last recipe. I did not do that this time, but I did save them for another dish.  That's a whole other blog.  

One thing that I had wanted to put in between the oven ready skillet and the fresh and hot right out of the oven is the salad dish, but I just did not want to interrupt the continuity. So, let's make a parmesan salad dish! 

You have seen me in previous posts make parmesan discs for burgers and salads, as well as parmesan bowls.  I love them. They add a buttery, salty bite to everything. For this meal, I made a shallow dish.  I followed the same procedure as usual.  Since the oven is preheated to 350-degrees, I had the oven do double-duty.  On a baking sheet lined with parchment, add 2/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese in a mound. The cheese will melt and form a patty. When the edges begin to brown and the disc bubbles, about eight to ten minutes, remove the baking sheet.  Allow the disc to cool for about three minutes.  Meanwhile, cover a small bowl with foil and spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray or evoo spray. Using a narrow spatula, carefully remove the parmesan disc from the parchment and place over the rounded top of the upside bowl. Allow to cool about ten minutes before removing the parmesan bowl. Upon serving, add the marinated salad to the parmesan dish.

Now, finally!  It is time to serve!

 It is now time to eat!  A little elegant, completely flavorful, good for your health and waist line, this dish is easy and clean up is a breeze.  Whether you make this as a fancy date meal for two, or add more potatoes and two more chicken breasts for a dinner for family or friends, this is one winner of a chicken dinner!

Ok, I could not resist the pun!!!

I hope you enjoyed this post, friends!  I hope you make this dish and enjoy as much as I did!  Now, go cook something for someone you love!

As always, thank you for your readership and for spending some time with my humble little blog!  I am grateful for your time and consideration!