A couple days ago, Kevin asked what my last post in March was
going to be about, and I had no idea! As I thought about what I wanted to post,
it finally hit me when we were sitting down for one of our favorite meals tonight--Parmesan Chicken Tenders & Sweet Potato Fries!
At one of our wedding showers, one piece of advice that we
were given was to do chores together—shovel together, clean together, cook
together, do yard work together, etc. It seems silly, but it has made a world
of difference in our first year of marriage.
Kevin and I have found that we really enjoy cooking together
in our tiny little apartment. We have set off the fire alarm 20+ times over the
course of the year, screwed up a ton of recipes, and made gigantic messes; but when we’re doing it together, it makes it so
much more fun and memorable! (When I do these things on my own, it’s pretty much awful.)
Parmesan Chicken with Garlic and Herbs & Sweet Potato Fries
This meal is so perfect and so easy, and it works perfectly
when you have two chefs in the kitchen!
Sweet Potato Fries:
Kevin is, and will
forever be, in charge of the sweet potatoes. He is amazing at peeling and
chopping them into cube fries. (I have almost lost whole limbs trying to cut
those suckers! It’s for the well being of everyone if he assumes this role.) We
like our fries salty rather than sweet, so after lightly coating them with
extra virgin olive oil in a bowl, Kevin lays them out in a single layer across
a foil-lined cookie sheet. Laying down a layer of tinfoil makes cleanup SUPER easy. (Please note that parchment paper is not the same thing as tinfoil and is not a good lining choice… Yes, this happened and so did a mini-fire in our oven). Once the potatoes are spread out, this is when Kevin goes crazy adding the sea salt,
garlic salt, and pepper.
 |
| similar recipe found here |
2-3 small organic sweet potatoes or yams
or
1-2 giant organic sweet potato or yam (you've seen 'em)
a whole lot of sea salt
a lot of garlic salt
a little bit of pepper
3+ Tbs of extra virgin olive oil
Clearly we are not experts when it comes to measurements, but it really is Kevin's art form, and he makes them perfectly every time. Experiment and have fun discovering what you like! We have added cinnamon a few times for a mix of flavor and cumin and cayenne pepper a few times, but we prefer the salty mixture best.
Parmesan Chicken with Garlic and Herbs:
I found
this recipe on Pinterest, and I absolutely love it! There is a lot of room for error, which is why I love it so much! It's really easy to adapt to make more or less servings depending on how many mouths you're feeding, too!
Here are a few adaptations & faux-pas of my own:
--Buy fresh chicken that has already been cut into tender size in order to save prep-time
--There have been times where I didn’t warm the ingredients
for the marinade before marinating the chicken in a zip-lock baggie.
--I’ve actually never marinated the chicken all day (poor
planning on my part). The slits in the chicken, however, are definitely helpful for allowing
the flavor to penetrate quickly (good enough reason?) and to help the chicken cook
thoroughly.
--I bake our sweet potatoes and chicken at the same time at
425 for 25 minutes
--I use a glass 13x9 baking dish
--I use ½ cup of whole wheat breadcrumbs and ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese and pulse them in our Ninja blender (I don’t have a food
processor). The recipe calls for ¼ cup, but I find it annoying to have to go back and make
more, so I make more the first time and usually end up using it all anyway.
I love that most of theses ingredients are in our kitchen at all times, but I also love that it is seriously so tasty and satisfying; it's an awesome go-to recipe that is relatively quick even if you don't plan ahead like me! Pair this recipe with your favorite dipping sauce, the sweet potato fries, and some fruit and you're set to go for an amazing meal!
Give this meal a whirl and let us know what you think!
Kevin & Kelly
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