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01/04/2017 11:01 PMSometimes I think I will turn into a chicken, based on all the chicken I buy, eat and even order in a restaurant.
It doesn’t really have anything to do with having a problem with red meat. I do not. As a matter of fact, I have spent my adult life looking for the perfect hamburger. I would rather have a hamburger than a filet mignon. (Actually, my favorite steak is a New York strip steak, never a filet mignon.) But when I order a salad as a main dish, I prefer to have it with chicken. My favorite snack from my own refrigerator would be a roasted chicken or turkey breast to pick at, until dinner is ready.
I love to cook chicken and I often roast a chicken not for dinner but for three or four days of lunches or dinners the rest of the week. I also make stuffing, pack it in freezer bags and partly thaw the packets to stuff my stuffer-roaster chicken. I also baste it with reduced white wine and butter, make gravy, and might freeze that, too.
I received my new issue of Cooking Light over the Christmas weekend and was delighted to see a dozen or more recipes for chicken, including one article alone for sheet-pan chicken dinners. The recipe for Maple Mustard Roasted Chicken, included here, is fabulous. The one I will write about in my next column is sheet-pan chicken nachos with feta.
This recipe calls for a bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. And here’s some information on chicken skin, according to Cooking Light: “Our tests revealed that chicken roasted in its skin is not only juicer, but it is also leaner than chicken cooked without out it. The skin collects the fat and traps in moisture so you get the leanest, tastiest meat once the skin is removed. Leave the skin on and you add about 20 calories and 1 gram of fat per serving. Skin-on chicken pieces are also less expensive than skinless, a win-win for a healthy cook.”
Maple-Mustard Roasted Chicken with Squash and Brussels Sprouts
From Cooking Light, January-February 2017
Yield: serves 6 (376 calories per serving)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, divided
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
4 (10-ounce) bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
3 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 pound)
3 large shallots, peeled and quartered
½ acorn squash, seeded and cut crosswise into slices
8 ounces Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
Place large rimmed baking sheet in oven; preheat oven to 425 degrees (leave pan in oven as it preheats).
Combine sage, mustard, and syrup in a small bowl, brush evenly over chicken breasts. Carefully remove pan from oven. Add chicken to pan for 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven. Discard any juices from pan.
Add butternut squash, shallots, acorn squash, and Brussels sprouts to pan with chicken. Top vegetables with butter, oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper; toss. Spread in an even layer around chicken. Sprinkle chicken with remaining ¾ teaspoon salt and remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper. Bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove bones from chicken before serving; discard.