Comfort Food

I discovered Garlic Cheddar Chicken from Allrecipes over a year ago. It's one of my favorite ways to make chicken - it's moist, has a great cheese flavor, without being gooey. I paired it with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes (allrecipes) and Oven Roasted Green Beans from The Food Network. Simple, easy, and sooooo yummy! Changes I made are indicated in italics.






Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

1 medium head garlic 1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 tablespoons butter, softened Reduced to 2 tbsp
1/2 cup milk (I use low fat) salt and pepper to taste
I added 1/4 fat free sour cream, 1 tbsp chopped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Drizzle garlic with olive oil, then wrap in aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop. Stir in butter, milk, salt and pepper.

Remove the garlic from the oven, and cut in half. Squeeze the softened cloves into the potatoes.
Blend potatoes with an electric mixer until desired consistency is achieved. Add sour cream and chives.

Oven Roasted Green Beans

1 1/2 pounds green beans 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Trim the ends of the green beans and add to a large bowl.
Toss with the extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and spread out evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Roast, stirring once halfway through, until lightly caramelized and crisp tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

1/2 cup butter 4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt.
Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.

Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. I added 2 tbsp shredded cheddar with ten minutes left.