Desperation Chicken

I know I'm not the only person who sometimes finds herself staring at the clock at 5 pm and wondering where a whole day went... and what in the world am I going to make for dinner?! Recently, on just such an occasion, I found myself with under an hour to cook something using the only two fresh ingredients I had available at the time: a package of boneless chicken thighs and a pint of organic cherry tomatoes from my weekly CSA produce delivery.  Naturally, I turned to my bff Pinterest....



I don't remember exactly which search words I used, but it was something akin to:  chicken dinner recipe.  fast.  easy.  no time.  forgot dinner again.   help me Jesus.

And where did Pinterest send me?  Straight to Rachel Schultz's "A Household Almanac" blog and her recipe for the "World's Best Chicken."  This maybe should be renamed "World's Best Recipe."  Just my opinion.

It only takes a few simple ingredients available in everyone's kitchen cupboard to whip up a sauce and pour it over your chicken.  Then you sprinkle on some herbs and bake for about 30-40 minutes.  That's it.  The result is tasty, tender, tangy chicken that is not only healthy and delicious, but also looks just beautiful.

For the sauce, mix together

• 1/2 cup of mustard (I used ordinary yellow hot dog mustard.  Even if your family doesn't like mustard, they will like this.  The transformation is miraculous.  Trust me.)
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar (or any other mild vinegar you like.  I used my favorite homemade citrus vinegar.)
• a bit of salt and pepper.

That's it!  Pour it over 4 boneless chicken breasts or a couple pounds of boneless chicken thighs, and sprinkle about a tablespoon of dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, herbs d' Provence, whatever you like) on top. 

Bake this in a 425F oven for 30-40 minutes until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F degrees; fully cooked, but still juicy.

The herbs make this look especially pretty when it's all done.

I served this chicken with a quickie tomato and chickpea salad and a 90-second microwaveable organic quinoa and brown rice medley I buy at Costco.  All on the table in about 45 minutes.  My family was wowed by this "desperation dinner," which is now at the top of our dinner favorites rotation.

(And whatever you do, don't throw away the leftover sauce.  Use it to jazz up any recipe that normally calls for chicken broth, like this delicious butternut squash soup.)

World’s Best Chicken Created by Rachel Schultz and provided by grannyfab.blogspot.com
Ingredients:	Instructions:
3-4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs ½ cup yellow mustard ¼ cup maple syrup 1 tablespoon vinegar Salt and pepper Dried herbs (thyme or rosemary) to taste	1.    Place thawed chicken in a baking dish. 2.    Mix the mustard, syrup, vinegar, salt and pepper and pour over the chicken. 3.    Sprinkle herbs on top. 4.    Bake at 425F 30-40 minutes.