Tag Archives: quick chicken recipe

Chicken Veggie Bake

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So leading up to our vacation this summer, I really wanted to get myself in shape so I could feel good about myself. I signed up for a virtual challenge through a friend of mine which emphasized being physically active and eating clean.

I was a little hesitant about the clean eating part of it (it has nothing to do with the 5 second rule people) and while it’s not necessarily always going to be something sustainable for me personally, it really challenged me to find some new recipes and gave me a new outlook on food and how it fuels my body.

I found Pinterest to be a great resource for inspiration, which lead me to one of our new favorites – even when we aren’t aiming to eat clean! It is my go-to recipe for a crazy weeknight when I have other stuff to get done – like preparing other meals for the week or getting a workout in. It’s filling and packed with protein and flavor. It takes 10 minutes to prep! Oh, and the best part? It only takes 1 dish. You chop everything, throw it in a dish, stir it and bake it. No messy bowls, pots and pans to worry about – just the dish you cook it in.

So recap:

Easy – check!

Quick (and you can get other stuff done while it cooks) – check!

Healthy – check!

Delicious – check!

1 dish – check!

You’re welcome.

Chicken Veggie Bake (Serves 2 – 8 WW Pts./Serving)

Ingredients_ChickenVeggieBake

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a large baking dish with non-stick spray.

12 oz. raw boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped into bite-sized pieces

4 oz. red potatoes, diced

1 cup asparagus, trimmed and chopped

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced (I halve some of the slices to spread the love)

1/4 medium red onion, diced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

2 tsp. dried rosemary

2 tsp. dried Italian herb seasoning

Salt and pepper

Add chicken and vegetables to your baking dish. Add olive oil, garlic, rosemary, Italian herb seasoning, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Stirandcook_ChickenVeggieBake

Bake for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through. Take this 30 minutes to check something off your list. Get in a quick workout. Make your lunch for the next day. Call your mom. Take a bubble bath. Pay your bills – the possibilities are endless people, because your work is done when this thing goes in the oven!

I add a side salad…and usually a side of wine too.

Chicken Veggie Bake_cookingonthebrightside

Let me know if you try this and if you love it as much as we do.

Chicken with Pepperoni Marinara Sauce

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Dear October,

Where did you go?

Y’all, seriously. I just looked at my calendar and freaked out a little. I have been a very very bad blogger! It has been absolute chaos (the fun kind!) in our house these past few weeks. Just a little overview:

  • Wrapped up Sept. with a church community service project and then drove to Oxford, MS for a cousin’s wedding and some family birthday celebrating.
  • Then finished our bathroom (woot woot!).
  • Rang in October by celebrating our 2nd anniversary which included a delicious meal cooked by my husband and one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in my life at a restaurant I’d been dying to try. I may have made reservations in July to make sure we got there.
  • Hosted a couple’s shower for some friends – I love throwing parties, but they leave me exhausted. At least we had leftovers to eat for 3 days before we packed up again!
  • Headed to Orlando for another wedding – this time one of my best friends from college. Spent a day with Mickey and the gang, ate our way around the world at Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival (which was AMAZING), got some girl time with my besties (sadly minus my Punk – but gotta keep her baby safe!) and celebrated the marriage of two wonderful people.
  • And this past weekend we celebrated another wedding – one of the husband’s best friends from college. He was in the wedding – so a whole weekend of festivities.

So – all of that to say. Hi. I’m back. And happy to be back in my kitchen cooking meals for 2 people for a little while. In order to get back in the swing of things, I needed a super easy recipe with stuff I had on hand and I found this little gem on the Cooking Light website.

Chicken with Pepperoni Marinara Sauce (Serves 4 / 7 WW pts. per serving)

Ingredients

Original recipe found here.

4 (5 oz.) boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I buy thin sliced or cut a big one in half)

1 tsp. olive oil

Garlic powder and pepper

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

2 tsp. Italian herb seasoning

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

16 slices Turkey pepperoni, chopped

1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

1/2 cup reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded

Heat a large saucepan to medium. Coat with nonstick spray and add olive oil.

Sprinkle chicken breasts with a little garlic powder and pepper on each side. Add to skillet and cook 3-5 minutes on each side until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside.

Steps

Add garlic and chopped pepperoni to pan and cook about 2 minutes. Pour in marinara sauce and stir in Italian herb seasoning and garlic salt. You may want to add a little more salt or some pepper depending on the sauce you purchase – I like to cut the sweet a little.

Pour sauce over the chicken breasts and add 2 Tbsp. cheese on top of each piece. (To make this an easy one-pan meal – I pushed the sauce to one side and then added the chicken back in.) Cover for 2-3 minutes until cheese has melted.

Close Up

This was super easy and required ingredients I usually have on hand – so it worked out perfectly, I didn’t even have to make a run to the store! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did…

Chicken Pepperoni-Marinara Sauce

Have a great weekend y’all!