This is my favorite chicken recipe. I like it because the chicken is always moist and you can make it without the fattening skin. Typically if you take the skin off chicken and cook it, it’s too dry.
It takes 15 minutes to prepare and one hour to bake if you can find a sous chef to chop while you brown the chicken. If you are by yourself, it’ll take 30 minutes to prepare.
I got the base directions from my trusty Fannie Farmer Cookbook which my Grandma Ellen gave me before she died a few years ago. It’s my go-to cookbook for anything from icing to salads. I’ve simplified the recipe though.
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My 12-year-old son is famous for only eating kid-friendly foods like macaroni and cheese. However, I was pleasantly surprised when he really liked this chicken dish which is great with any type of rice or potatoes, a green salad and vegetables.
By the way, my dietician says you only need four ounces of protein for dinner. She also says fill up three quarters of your plate with colorful vegetables.
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What you’ll need to make Easy Chicken Casserole exactly the way I make it:
Eight skinless chicken thighs, 2 medium tomatoes, 1/2 small onion, 1 tbsp. green pepper, 3 tbsp. olive oil, salt, pepper, Oregano, two medium tomatoes, one small onion, one table spoon of green pepper, ½ cup of flour, rectangular baking pan, tin foil, frying pan.
Tip: If your Oregano is more than a year old, toss it. Spices lose their flavor after a year.
Directions:
1) Have your sous chef, a.k.a. old-enough-to-cut-with-a-knife child, spouse, sibling or best friend chop the tomatoes, pepper and onions into small pieces while you brown the chicken in the frying pan.
Tip: If you teach your child some cooking skills now, he or she will be better off when they go off to college later. My son can make French toast, cakes and all sorts of other dishes. Also, having him cook means he has to stop playing Minecraft!
2) To brown the chicken, roll the chicken pieces in flour and then fry them in a thin layer of olive oil until they are completely cooked with a little bit of brown coloring on both sides. Sprinkle on salt and Oregano at some point in the process.
3) Line the baking pan with tin foil and then put in the browned chicken. Dump all of the items that sous chef chopped for you on top of the chicken. Cover with foil.
Tip: You can personalize each piece. For example, my husband likes pepper so I only put it on his pieces. My son doesn’t love tomatoes unless it’s in pizza sauce so I don’t put them on his pieces. You get the idea.
4) Bake at 375 degrees for an hour. Set the timer!
During this hour, have your sous chef set the table and make the rice while you make the salad and cook the vegetables. Did you know you can cook rice in the microwave?
Good luck and let me know how it goes.
