October 15: Honey Mustard Chicken and Creamy Brussels Sprouts

Today I’ve got a two-fer for you-fer! Why? Because it's Tuesday and I'm sure I've heard the phrase Two-fer Tuesday before. So not only am I giving you the recipe for a honey mustard chicken main dish, I’m also throwing in a creamy Brussels sprouts side dish, too! 

You can thank me later.

(If you're wondering why I didn't photograph these meal items together, it's because I made them on two separate days. But when I was going through my pix, I realized they'd go nicely together. Thus, even though I couldn't get them together on one plate, I've gotten them together in one post. Next best thing, for sure.)

Let’s start out with this easy, low-fat but flavor-packed Baked Honey Mustard Chicken from diethood.com. When I saw it had my favorite condiment in there, I was alllll over it!

What I loved about this was how simply it came together. There’s an option to brown the chicken first before baking it, or to just stick them right into the pan. I went the easy route and skipped the browning. So all I really had to do was place my chicken in a baking dish; season it with a seasoning blend (I just used some poultry seasoning because that’s what I had on hand); mix a trio of mustards with some paprika, vinegar, and, of course, honey; pour that goodness over the chicken and nestle rosemary between the slices; and bake! It was so easy and so good!

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken

Adapted from Diethood

Ingredients:

4 (4 ounces each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon (or to taste) chicken seasoning blend (I just sprinkled on some poultry seasoning)

1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

1/8 teaspoon paprika

4 sprigs fresh rosemary, optional but recommended

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 375°F. 

2.     Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and place chicken breasts inside.

3.     Season chicken.  

I prematurely placed my rosemary sprigs when I'd snapped this pic.
I ended up removing them and replacing them after I poured on my sauce.

4.     Combine 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, honey, the 3 mustards, white vinegar, and paprika in a small mixing bowl; whisk until well combined.

The mustardy stars of the honey MUSTARD sauce

5. Pour sauce over the chicken breasts, flipping chicken over to coat each chicken breast in the sauce.
6. Place sprigs of rosemary between chicken breasts.

   

   Rosemary BACK in the game

7. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
8. Remove cover and continue to bake for about 15 minutes more, or until chicken is cooked through. 
   
9. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes. 

Now for a side dish! I wanted to try to mix up our Brussels sprouts game since I’ve been sort of obsessively making these honey balsamic roasted ones since April when my husband and I had them on our New Orleans vacation. When I came upon this Creamy Brussels Sprouts Bake recipe on The Novice Chef’s blog, I knew I wanted to try it, especially as I’d never considered cheesing up sprouts. While nothing beats the honey balsamic kind, it was good for a changeup. 

I made a few adaptations to the original recipe because I was trying to cut back a bit on the calories, and equipment. (Because as much as I believe these would’ve tasted nice getting all crisped up on the bottom in cast iron, I did NOT feel like cleaning my cast iron that night after dinner. In addition, the original recipe called for mixing the ingredients in a large bowl and pouring it in the baking dish after it was mixed. I didn't feel like washing an extra bowl, either, so I just mixed it all right in the dish. True confession: I love to cook, but I hate to clean up after.) 

Creamy Brussels Sprouts

Adapted from The Novice Chef

Ingredients:

12 oz bag Brussel sprouts, bottoms removed and halved

½ cup half and half

¾ teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 Tablespoon Italian seasoning (in future, I’d cut this back because it tasted very Italian seasoning-forward. Maybe no more than 1 teaspoon)

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided (1/4 cup EACH, in the mix and on the top) 

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9x9 oven-safe dish.
2. Add Brussels sprouts. 
   
3. Add garlic and herbs. 
   
4. Add half & half, mozzarella, and 1/4 cup shredded parmesan. Stir to coat.
   
   
   

   

   A close up of the pre-baked goodness.
5. Add remaining ¼ cup parmesan to the top.
   
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, till browned and bubbly.
   
   
   

   

   A close up of the post-baked goodness.

7. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

So there you go. Your dinner plans are made. 

I’ll take those thanks now. ;-)