Chicken Dijon with Roasted Vegetables

This may turn out to be a disaster, so I'd better be careful what I say before I taste. But tonight, it was cold outside and I'm leaving town tomorrow for a few days so I didn't want to go out and visit the supermarket. On these occasions it comes down to making the best of what you have available. I have potatoes, broccoli, carrots, onion and garlic in the fridge and a breast of chicken I defrosted yesterday but didn't eat last night, since the urge to cook left me after running around town in the traffic for a couple of hours.

As I'm trying to eat a little healthier, the vegetables have to be roasted. That preserves all the good stuff that boiling or steaming leaches out, yet cooks them so they are interesting to eat. I cut the potato into 3/4 inch cubes, cut the onion and carrot into pieces, toss them all together with salt and olive oil in a Ziploc bag then lay them in a 12 inch square pan. Turned the oven on 400 degrees then cooked them for 50 minutes turning every 15 minutes.

While the veggies are cooking I'll simmer the garlic head for 15 minutes or so to soften it and make it easy to separate and peel the garlic cloves.

Now to prepare the chicken. It's a skinless, boneless chicken breast so that makes life easy. First I'll sprinkle garlic salt, black pepper, and cumin over the chicken then coat the top surface with a layer of Dijon mustard and put the chicken breast in the oven alongside the vegetables. Then I'll pour a glass of wine and sit back and relax for a few minutes (or type in the blog!)

The vegetables should be turned every 15 minutes, so I've set the timer for 15 minutes and when it goes off I'll take the veggies out of the oven and turn them over with a spatula. At the second 15 minute interval I take the chicken out and turn it over and spread Dijon mustard over the exposed side and put it back in the oven.

The third time the time goes off, I turn the veggies, then take the chicken out of the oven, turn it over and add a dozen or so olive halves on top of the chicken breast. Put the chicken back in the oven for 3 or 4 minutes, then take it out and cut through the thickest part of the breast to make sure it is cooked all the way through.

Arrange the chicken on a plate, then when the timer goes off take out the vegetables and arrange them around the chicken. Refilled my glass of Chardonnay and sat down to eat. Fortunately it turned out OK, though the chicken might have been better with a sauce.

Tomorrow night will be a review of a restaurant in Venice, California providing Continental deliver us on time. TTFN.