Lemon Mustard Chicken with Asparagus and Potatoes

This is a really easy dinner to throw together – all goes in one skillet.  I followed the original recipe from Damn Delicious, but next time, I’d cut up the chicken more and quarter the potatoes instead of halving them to make sure it all gets cooked through evenly – we had to put it in the oven awhile longer to finish. 

Lemon Mustard Chicken with Asparagus and Potatoes (adapted from Damn Delicious)

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ½ t dried thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 6 bone-in, skin-on thicken thighs (we already had boneless in our fridge, but I think bone-in would have turned out better…)
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 12 baby red potatoes, quartered
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.   

2. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest, and thyme.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Rub onto both sides of the chicken. 

3. Melt butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Set aside. 

4. Add quartered potatoes to the skillet.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place skillet in oven and bake 20 – 25 minutes, or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.  Add asparagus and chicken to the skillet. 

5.  Place in oven and roast until chicken is completely cooked through (with an internal temperature of 175 degrees F), about 30 more minutes.  The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your chicken and size of your potatoes, so adjust accordingly.  

Bacon Parmesan Snap Peas

 

When we made the mustard-roasted chicken a few weeks back, I made way too much of the crispy breadcrumb mixture.  So, for Super Bowl Sunday, I used the rest to make a healthier replacement for fried chicken to enjoy during the game. 

I asked Lance what sides he wanted, and he said Trader Joe’s Mac & Cheese and something green with bacon in it.  I’m not usually a fan of most frozen foods, but that Mac & Cheese tastes like a side you’d get at a restaurant.  It has four cheeses – Cheddar, Swiss, Havarti, and Gouda. 

I had already bought some snap peas, so I prepared those as our 2^nd side.  They turned out so delicious that I had to share the recipe! 

Bacon Parmesan Snap Peas (adapted from The Pig & Quill)

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs sugar snap peas
• Juice and zest of 2 lemons
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ T Dijon mustard (I used Trader Joe’s whole grain Dijon)
• ¼ cup grated parmesan
• 3 slices thick bacon
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

1. Cook your bacon and crumble into pieces.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Prepare another bowl with ice water. 

3. When water boils, add your snap peas, cooking until tender and bright green, only 30 – 60 seconds.  Immediately remove with a slotted spoon and add to the ice water so they stop cooking. 

4. In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, zest, and mustard.   Whisk in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.   

5. Drain the cooled peas and add to the dressing bowl.  Toss with parmesan cheese and crumbled bacon.  

Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken

 

My coworker, Susana, gave me a fantastic cookbook for Christmas that I’m so excited about!  (She had only known me a few weeks at that point, so it was so thoughtful of her).  It’s called Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust by Ina Garten. 

I finally got the chance to try out one of the recipes – Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken – and it was one of the best chicken dishes I’ve made.  It was really simple to throw together, but it does take about an hour to bake, so make sure you have enough time. 

I halved the amount of chicken, but wish I didn’t because I would have loved leftovers!  I accidentally made enough of the breadcrumb mixture for the full recipe, so I saved half of it to use another time soon.  It was crispy like fried chicken, but so much more flavorful and not as greasy.  This is going to be one of my go-to recipes from now on. 

Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken (from Barefoot Contessa Foolproof)

Ingredients:

• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 T minced fresh thyme leaves
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1 T grated lemon zest
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup honey Dijon mustard
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 4 pounds chicken (we used thighs, but you can use whatever parts you like best)

 

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  

2. Place the garlic, thyme, 2 t salt, and 1 t pepper in a food processor and mix until the garlic is finely minced.   

3.  Add the panko, lemon zest, olive oil, and butter and pulse a few times to moisten the bread crumbs.  Pour the mixture onto a plate.

 

4. Whisk together the mustard and wine in a shallow bowl.   

5.  Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.  Generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.   

 

6.  Dip each piece in the mustard mixture to coat all sides.  Then, place just the skin-side down into the breadcrumb mixture, pressing gently to adhere the crumbs. 

7.  Place chicken on a greased pan crumb-side up.  Press the remaining crumbs on the chicken pieces. 

8.  Bake for 40 minutes, then raise the temperature to 400 degrees and bake for another 10, or until the crumbs are browned and the chicken is thoroughly cooked through. (Even though I greased the pan, I still had to let it soak for a bit afterwards...but it cleaned up just fine.)

 

We served ours with a simple spinach salad with strawberries, cucumbers, provolone cheese, and Olive Garden dressing. 

 

You could prepare the chicken in advance if you’d like – just refrigerate after dipping in the mustard and crumb mixtures, then bake when you’re ready. 

Yoga at Bamboozle & The Brew Brunch

 

This past Sunday I started off the morning with my cousin Jenn and friend Hillary at Bamboozle’s Sunday Salutation Yoga.  It is a free class offered every Sunday morning – it’s only been going on for a few weeks now, but I’d highly recommend checking it out! 

 

We set up our mats right in front of the Tea Lounge.  It was the perfect way to start off the morning.  Plus someone outside had adorable corgi puppies!

Afterwards, Lynn at Bamboozle gave us complimentary tea and brunch samples – and I cooled off with my favorite coconut milk drink with chia seeds.  If you want to participate, check out their facebook page for more info.

I was excited to have Sunday off work because Green Bench Brewing hosted a Brew Brunch!  From the flyer, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I knew I wanted to check it out.  So we headed to St. Pete to see what it was about. 

 

It was PACKED!  Every time I’ve been to Green Bench, it’s been a weekday, so I’m used to there being about a dozen people there.  There were hundreds of people – and their kids and dogs. (We saw ANOTHER corgi!)  The photo below was from Local Buds: Artisan Collective’s facebook page – it shows way better than my pictures just how many people were there.    

We grabbed a saved a spot at a bench inside while some of the other girls waited in line for the food.  The tables were covered in beautiful succulent arrangements by O’Berry’s Succulents.

I ordered a flight of beers while we waited.  I especially liked their featured tap called Sometimes You Don’t – a toasted coconut, vanilla, and chocolate milk stout.  Since Lance had to work, I filled up a growler of the Surrealist IPA to bring home (he likes it, but I’m not a big fan of sour beers).  Apparently Squeeze Juice Works was serving collaborative beer mimosas, but I didn’t realize that until after I already ordered my flight!

 

The brunch was served by the food truck The Twisted Iron, which had all sorts of fancy waffle varieties.  Some were sweet like the Elvis waffle topped with peanut butter, bacon, and bananas; others were savory like the Philly-style steak and cheese waffle with sautéed mushrooms and onions.  It took over an hour to get food since it was so crowded!

 

I tried the chicken and waffles, served with honey mustard and maple syrup.  Unfortunately, by the time we got our food, they had run out of the fancy syrup.  So we ended up with Smuckers instead.  Guess we need to get there earlier next time.  The double stout honey mustard was great – it was made by The Urban Canning Company (I had just bought some of their Pear Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Jam from Duckweed the other day). 

 

Afterwards we stuck around for some fun playing giant jenga out on their patio.

 

 

 

 

Bamboozle Tea Lounge is located at 109 N 12th St #101, Tampa, FL 33602 and open from 11:30am – 9pm Mondays through Saturdays, and 11am – 4pm for brunch on Sundays.

 

Green Bench Brewing is located at 1133 Baum Avenue North, St. Petersburg, FL 33705 and is open 2pm – 10pm Tuesday – Thursday, 2pm – 12am Friday, 12pm – 12am Saturday, and 12pm – 10pm on Sunday.  They are closed Mondays.