Cooking . . . It's a Family Thing!

TONIGHT'S DINNER 3/18/2010

This was delicious! It may have been the best thing I've prepared all week. Well, to be honest everything I've had this week has been very, very good!

Yogurt-Marinated Chicken withAsparagus
and Watercress



Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt, preferably Greek-style (this is what I used)
• 6 T EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
• 2 t chili powder
• 1 t ground coriander (and yes, I had this spice in my cabinet, I guess you could leave out)
• Grated peel and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into thirds
• Salt & pepper
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 bunch watercress (you can find this at Harris Teeter; kinda looks like clover)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, 1 T olive oil, the chili powder, coriander, lemon peel (I just used my micro plane zester over the entire lemon). Season chicken with salt & pepper then toss into the yogurt marinade; let stand for about 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a greased rack on a rimmed baking sheet(that you've lined with foil for easy clean-up), then arrange the chicken in a single layer on the rack; drizzle with 1 T olive oil. Bake the chicken for 15 minutes, turn chicken over, drizzle with another 1 T olive oil and cook another 15 minutes. My total cook time was 30 min. then I turned the broiler on to give the chicken a nice golden brown color.
3. Meanwhille , on another baking sheet, toss the asparagus with 1 T olive oil, season with salt & pepper and arrange in a single layer. Bake in the oven with the chicken the last 10-15 minutes cooking time.
4. Divide the watercress (that you've washed & dried) among 4 plates, then top with the asparagus and chicken. Drizzle with the remaining 2 T olive oil and lemon juice; season with salt & pepper. I actually mixed the olive oil and lemon juice together and just let each person use if they wanted to.

Katie tried to eat the watercress but she said it tasted like grass smelled so she did not eat it. Richard did and said it was good. Of course, I loved everything about this dish! Even if you don't want to serve the watercress, you should try the chicken and asparagus with the lemon & olive oil! Yummy!