Recipe: Chicken Dinner

I have always been fairly terrified of raw meat. I have had no interest in learning how to cook it- pretty much ever. The only exception to this is when my college boyfriend David and I were pretty serious and I thought we might get married. I wanted to be a grown up and learn how to cook for him (since he was already cooking wonderful meals for me) and so I tried to learn how to cook a tri-tip. After causing a fire which included 3 foot flames shooting out of a BBQ that was only 6 inches off the ground to begin with, I gave up that fantasy.

Since moving to Oregon and meeting my friend Sarah, I've been working hard on learning how to cook chicken without vomiting from sheer disgust. She taught me a simple way to make it (without touching it) and I've adpated this even more so to minimize contact. I am proud ot say I now no longer gag when looking at the frozen chicken and even eat what I cook. It's like a mirace. I feel like such a baller!

The way Sarah taught me was to take a piece of skinless, boneless chicken breast (I use Foster Farms), dump it in a bowl and run warm water over it for 10-15 minutes or so. I initially adapted this to hot water so it was actually cooking it a little before I stuck it in the pan but now I'm skipping this part to. Instead, I do this:

Take a single frozen chicken breast and dump it (without touching it) on to a baking pan or cookie sheet.

Sprinkle some seasoning (lemon pepper, or garlic salt & pepper) on top.

Pour a little olive oil over the top.

Crank oven to 450 degrees and stick in for about an hour. (Including the preheat time- and I do put the chicken in there while its pre-heating.)

About 3/4's of the way through, flip the breast with a knife or fork. Hope to hear a sizzle as you flip to a hot part of the pan.

That's it! It should come out golden brown and look roasted. It's great.

The recipe I just discovered (aka Made up) includes the above directions, and the last 10 minutes of baking time (when chicken is definitely cooked but not golden brown yet), I cut the breast in half and move to hot parts of the pan again (to facilitate the browning). Then I take a whole red onion and cut into 6ths. (Half, half again, half one more time)Dump in pan with chicken and spray with a little pam.

Let that roast for 10-15 minutes at a max. (Until done).

Remove from oven, dump on plate, and then top with diced tomates, (cover in garlic salt & pepper), and sprinkle with feta. I happened to grab a bottle of fry sauce when I was in the Salt Lake Airport, so I use this as a dip or drizzle on top. The whole thing is amazing, and around 300 calories.

LOVE IT!