Foil-Baked Chicken And Vegetables

We have been making a ton of new recipes lately; all of this fresh (and cheap) produce from the market plus my ever-handy binder of recipe ideas has really been inspiring! John was away this week and I wanted a really quick and easy meal when I got home from work late one night. I had just bought mushrooms (primarily because I knew I would eat them all before John got back). A fan of mushrooms he is not.I had cut out a recipe from, probably a Taste of Home magazine, although I have no idea because it is not written anywhere on the page which I was really anxious to try. They were savory chicken packets. Well, in the end, I made my own savory chicken packet with what we had in the house. You can do these on the grill, or in the oven; they both come out fabulous! I am just loving all of these grilling recipes, aren’t you?!

The best part about this recipe is that it is literally a “leftovers” recipe. I threw in 1/2 of an onion, a million mushrooms, 1/2 of a zucchini, leftover parsley, and 1/2 of a lemon was used to make lemon juice and lemon zest. Just sit back, wait, and let your dinner do all the work for you! I can’t stop exclaiming (to everyone) how easy this is; and delicious, especially over some brown rice. It is the perfect dorm room dinner!

Foil-Baked Chicken and Vegetables

Serves: 2

2 chicken breasts

2 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 onion, diced

1 cup mushrooms, diced

1 cup zucchini, diced

1/4 cup parsley

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F OR grill to medium-high heat. Place 2 squares of tinfoil down on your work station. Season each chicken breast equally with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Put one chicken breast in the middle of each tinfoil square. Top each chicken breast evenly with the onion, mushroom, zucchini, and parsley. Drizzle with lemon juice and top with lemon zest. Fold the packets, and seal the top (I just folded the tinfoil over itself a few times on the top. Place directly on the grill, or in a glass dish and in the oven (this will prevent any juices from leaking, but no juice leaked from mine). Bake for 30 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked through. Serve immediately.

I have made fish this way before (in tinfoil packets) but had never heard of chicken–I loved it and I know this will be a favorite dish with winter vegetables too. It even makes its own delicious sauce (see the picture below).