Quite Possibly the Perfect Meal

I tend to be skeptical of super simple recipes that only have a few ingredients. From my experience cooking it seems that more often than naught the more you put into a dish (blood, sweat, tears, time, energy, ingredients…) the more delicious it turns out in the end. For instance I am sure Rachel Ray, the queen of quick dinners on the Food Network, has some wonderful, tasty meals, but whenever I have seen her show I always think to myself that if you just take a few minutes longer and make a few changes or let it simmer for a half hour instead of five minutes then it is bound to be even tastier. Most of the time I pass these recipes by, maybe I am gluten for punishment or just enjoy the process of cooking as much as the final product, but whatever it is I shy away from really simple recipes that only have a few ingredients.

Well never say never right… Tonight I was looking in Cook with Jamie (one of the awesome cookbooks Russ gave me for my birthday) to find something we could grill out. We both wanted to eat at home but didn’t want to spend all night in the kitchen. I found a couple of options and showed them to Russ to have him pick. Well, the one he ended up picking you actually don’t grill, but roast it in the oven. I had thought we could convert it to using the grill, but decided in the end to just follow the recipe as is and roast it in the oven. The recipe is for Roasted Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus and it is so simple with so few ingredients, but good ingredients that go well together. This is really a classic Jamie Oliver recipe. He is after all the Naked Chef because he takes away the fussiness of food to make simple dishes that are packed with good quality, fresh ingredients and lets them do the work for him. Well, not that I have ever doubted him, but he was spot on with this one. Despite it only having a few ingredients and taking almost no time at all to put together it was fabulous. I’ll probably still be a little skeptical of really simple recipes, but I am definitely more open to the idea now.

To make the Roasted Chicken Breast with Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus you start by trimming the asparagus and cutting the tomatoes in half. Then toss them in a bowl with the rosemary sprigs, rosemary leaves, olive oil, chicken (bone in, skin on breasts), salt and pepper. Toss this to get everything seasoned and then make small rimmed packets of aluminum foil. Place the asparagus and tomatoes on the bottom of each packet and top with a chicken breast and a sprig of rosemary. Add a little white wine to the bottom and pop in the oven. Let them roast for approximately 40 – 45 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. Mine took a little longer than the recipe indicated, but I think this is because I did bone in and large breasts. I also forgot to drizzle them with balsamic vinegar when they were done which would have been a fantastic way to finish it off.

As I said above these were fabulous! I was so impressed with how well the asparagus, chicken, tomatoes, and rosemary worked together. It was a perfect symphony of flavors and ingredients – savory, fresh, bright colors, and fragrant. It takes just minutes to prepare and then you just toss them in the oven and let them bake. I really think this is the easiest meal I have ever made and not only that, but one of my favorites. I highly recommend this recipe and for those of you who are new to cooking this is a great one to try. It is definitely one that you could serve to company or just cook for a simple weeknight dinner. I didn’t serve it with anything else, but you could add another side or bread if you wanted. Russ rates this recipe a solid 10! This is one that I know will be repeated frequently in our house. Jamie has three more similar recipes (baked chicken in foil packet) with different ingredients and seasonings that I can’t wait to try.

Roasted Chicken Breast with Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus, Cook with Jamie
Serves 1

Preheat the oven to 400F. Put 1 chicken breast, with its skin left on, in a bowl. Add 8 trimmed sticks of asparagus, 6 halved cherry tomatoes and the leaves from 1 sprig of fresh rosemary plus a whole sprig of rosemary as well. Toss everything together with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Put the veg into an aluminum foil pan and place the chicken and rosemary sprig on top. Season well. Add some white wine and cook in the middle of the oven for 25 to 35 minutes. Serve drizzled with balsamic vinegar.