Stop What You're Doing and Make This For Dinner

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Last night I had my kids rolling their eyes at me.  Probably because I said "Oh, this is soooo good," about 300 times too many.  You know how young adults get.

But this recipe was absolutely that good.

I tripped over it, only because I was reading Jen Hatmaker's Facebook page (no, I am still a staunched  hold-out, but I can read the public stuff, right?), and she's on a Whole30 journey.  Me?  I'm just looking for food that tastes good and provides us some positive nutrition.  Quick, simple, non-processed, delicious.  Lofty ideals in a fast-paced, Masterchef kind of world with all its extremes of take out to fuss and bother.

This recipe fits my profile for good, yummy food.  I give you Rosemary Balsamic Sheet Pan Chicken with Bacon and Apples.  OK, so the name is longer than the drive from Melbourne to Sydney, but if you can overlook that you've got a winner.

Of course there is always the requisite little tweaks a person makes for one reason or another.  The recipe calls for chicken breast.  I had drumsticks, so that's what I used.  The recipe calls for apples.  You will want more apples than that.  Just trust me.  Double the apples.  I used 3, because 2 looked like a piddly little amount in the pan.  I wish I'd done more.  And you can use apples that are starting to feel like you wouldn't want to eat them.  Winner!  Also, I grew up in the 70s when people boiled their cabbages to death.  I don't love Brussels sprouts.  When I say I don't love, I mean I have not touched one since I left home.  Plus Aldi doesn't sell them right now.  Bummer, right?  Instead, I served this with our favourite cabbage dish, alongside which is just shredded cabbage sautéed with spring onion and bacon.  Talk about perfect!

Now obviously, this meal fits a set of nutritional criteria that doesn't include starch.  So if you don't need to worry about that you could add potato cubes to your pan as well.  Miss Mischief seemed to think that would make it perfect.  I was pretty happy without.

Enjoy