Rachael Ray will always be associated with 30-minute meals, but what about 25-minute meals? That's the idea behind the latest cookbook from Cooking Light magazine called "Dinner A.S.A.P.: 150 Meals Made As Simple As Possible" (Oxmoor House, $21.95).
The book guides you through making quick dinners with modern flavors, such as coconut-crusted chicken tenders, picadillo burritos, edamame fried rice or grilled salmon with whole grain pilaf. In some recipes, the editors don’t mind using grocery store shortcuts, like a rotisserie chicken, store-bought gnocchi, refrigerated mashed potatoes or pre-cut vegetables, such as — in the case of this recipe — bagged haricots verts (French green beans) that have already been trimmed.
This one-dish chicken has small amounts of both lemon and milk, but not enough to create a curdled mess. You start and finish on the stove, with a quick stint in the oven to make sure the chicken is cooked through.
Weeknight Lemon Chicken Skillet Dinner
12 oz. baby red potatoes, halved
1 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 3/4-inch thickness
3/4 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 thyme sprigs
4 oz. cremini mushrooms, quartered
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup whole milk
5 tsp. all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson)
8 very thin lemon slices
1 (8-oz.) package trimmed haricots verts (French green beans)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil, and simmer 12 minutes or until tender. Drain.
Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and thyme sprigs to pan; cook 5 minutes or until chicken is browned. Turn chicken over. Place pan in oven; bake for 10 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Remove chicken from pan.
Return pan to medium-high heat. Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add potatoes, cut sides down; mushrooms; and 1 tablespoon thyme; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring once. Combine milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add remaining salt, remaining pepper, flour mixture, stock, lemon and beans to pan; simmer 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Add chicken; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Sprinkle with parsley. Serves 4.
— From "Dinner A.S.A.P.: 150 Meals Made As Simple As Possible" by the editors of Cooking Light magazine (Oxmoor House, $21.95)
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