A Quick Easy Dinner After a Long Day

Today was one of those really awesome exhausting days.  I got a lot accomplished around the house, ran/walked my parents dog with Laela in the carrier, ran some errands, went to the park to chase Laela around, and then went on a playdate with Max and Lauren at Smith Playhouse.  It was our first time there, and Laela had a superfun time!

After such a long day, I obviously didn't have a ton of energy to cook, so I heated up some leftover basmati rice that I'd seasoned wtih paprika, salt, pepper and butter.  Then I grabbed a bone-in chicken breast, put it in a plastic bag with a seasoning mix made with kosher salt, pepper, and paprika, and gave that baggie a good shake to get the chicken fully covered with the seasoning.  I chopped 2 small potatoes and 1/2 of a small vidalia onion, and dumped some paprika and Tony Chachere's seasoning with a bit of olive oil into my cast iron skillet.

Once my skillet had reached a medium heat, I tossed in the chopped onion.  Once the onion had began to carmelize, I added the chicken and potatoes and plopped on the lid.  Check your potatoes every few minutes to move them around, but don't flip your chicken for four minutes.  After the four minutes, pour in some water to deglaze the pan, and move your potatoes and onions around so that they get covered in all that yummy chicken flavor that will come out from adding the water.  You can add broth if you want even more flavor, but like I said, I was tired and I didn't want to do any more work than I had to!

Once the eight to ten minutes of cooking are up (it will take 4 to 5 minutes per side depending on the size of the breast: bone-in chicken generally takes a few minutes longer than boneless, but it's worth it for that extra flavor), plate the potatoes, chicken, and rice and you're good to go!  It's even better if you have any steamed broccoli or peas on hand to add.  I like to mix my veggies up, while Kyle likes his in separate non-touching portions.

This is a great, easy meal that you can have in minutes!