Italian Chicken and Potatoes

This is easily one of my very favorite go-to meals. It is delicious, easy, and can be served to company when an impressive and delicious dinner is needed.  Yum, yum, yum.

Italian Chicken and Potatoes
Source: Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:
5-6 chicken tenders (we love these because they are perfect serving sized portions)
4-5 potatoes
Italian salad dressing (I generally use about 1/4 of a bottle)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut potatoes into wedges and boil on the stovetop for 5 minutes (just enough to soften them up a tad bit.) While potatoes are boiling, brown the chicken tenders in a little bit of oil on the stovetop. Salt and pepper to taste. Place potatoes and chicken into 9 x 13 pan. Drizzle Italian dressing over chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle garlic salt and Parmesan cheese over chicken and potatoes. Bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and tops are browned.

Such a yummy meal and SO so easy. (Sometimes I even skip browning the chicken before adding it to the pan.) Happy eating!

Chicken Veggie Skewers

These little skewers are yum-yummy! We don't have a grill, so we just bake them in our oven. They turn out really well. However, I'm sure they would be even better on the grill.  (If using bamboo skewers, soak in water for about 30 minutes.)

Skewer Stuff: 

Cubed Chicken (5 tenders-ish, we like our skewers chicken-y)

5 Cubed Potatoes (we also like out skewers potato-y. Boil them for five minutes to tender them up a little bit)

Small Whole Mushrooms (stems removed)

1/2 Small Red Onion - cubed (try to keep as much of the pieces in tact as possible, but don’t stress it if they start to fall apart)

1 can chunked pineapple

Marinade:

1/4 c. white vinegar

1/4 c. lemon juice

2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. seasoning salt

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (this really doesn’t add much heat; it’s better with it!)

1/4 tsp. black pepper

4 cloves garlic

1 c. canola oil

1/3 c. Parmesan cheese (either fresh or from a can)

3/4 tsp. Italian seasoning (add more if needed)

In a blender, combine vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, mustard, salt, seasoning salt, black pepper, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Blend. While blender is running, slowly add oil in a steady stream. Turn off blender and add Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Pulse blender 2-3 times to combine herbs and cheese. Remove 1/2 c. of dressing for basting during grilling and set aside.

Place cut-up chicken in a shallow dish and pour a little less than half of the remaining dressing over the chicken. Place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours or until ready to use.

Place chopped veggies in a dish (a 9×13 pan works great) and pour remaining dressing (except for reserved 1/2 c.) over the veggies. Toss gently to combine. Set aside.

When chicken is done marinating, skewer veggies and chicken. Then bake in the oven about 30 minutes or until chicken is done and potatoes are tender. 

p.s. When we made them, we actually used chicken and steak. We browned it a little bit in a frying pan first because we were a little worried that it would be completely cooked. It was delicious. Yum Yum Yum.