Easy Chicken Dinner

We’ve got a winner… winner.. chicken dinner! 😀

This is the perfect meal for those evenings after a long day at work and your family responds with “I don’t know” when asked what they want to eat.

Yes, we all get that response. And we all need a super easy chicken dinner! A dinner that is made quickly, but does not lack on flavor or nutrients.

When creating this recipe, I wanted to ensure it was nutritious, packed with flavor, have some crunch and versatile (so you could make it your own).

I love cherry tomatoes, and had some on hand from the Farmer’s Market. I also knew I wanted to roasted some chickpeas for crunch, as they are a great source of fiber!

I first tossed the chickpeas in spices and olive oil, spread them on a cookie sheet and placed them in the oven and made the rest of the dish.

(Warning: you may eat all of these crunchy nuggets on their own!)

Ingredients:

–Chickpeas
1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and patted dry
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
–Chicken
4 chicken breasts, pounded out to 1/4 inch thickness
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
–Tomato
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups baby spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
–Grain
2 cups of your favorite rice or other grain, prepared to package instructions
Parsley for garnish

Instructions:

–Chickpeas
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line baking sheet with foil.
3. In a bowl, toss chickpeas in salt, garlic powder, cumin, turmeric and olive oil. Spread evenly onto baking sheet.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring once, until golden brown and crunchy.

–Chicken
4. Pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness
5. A bowl, stir together all purpose flour with salt, garlic powder, black pepper and paprika.
6. Dip chicken into flour mixture. Shake off excess.
7. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken to skillet and cook until golden brown on each side; about 4 minutes a side. Place on a rack.

–Tomato
8. In same skillet that chicken was cooked in, add additional tablespoon of olive oil. Add in cherry tomatoes and garlic. Add spinach and salt and sautee until tomatoes are blistered and spinach is wilted.

–Assemble
9. Place 1/2 cup rice on plate and spoon over tomato and spinach. Sprinkle with chickpeas and top with chicken breast.
10. Garnish with parsley
Enjoy 🙂