Quick Barbecue Chicken Dinner

I’ll admit it!  I was not in the mood to cook tonight, but I was in the mood for barbecue chicken.  How was I going to get a full meal done with very little effort? I did not want to turn on the oven, even though cooking the chicken would have been a easy clean up.  I didn’t want to wait too long.  I wanted my chicken to take as long as making a batch of mashed potatoes (25 minutes.)

HERE’S WHAT I DID
I cut up enough spuds to have mashed potatoes for tonight and tomorrow night, when I make meatloaf. While the spuds were cooking, I defrosted three chicken breasts in the microwave.  Yes, I actually used the defrost features on my microwave so I didn’t accidentally precook them.  I only defrosted the breasts enough to make them easy to cut up into 1/2 inch round slices.

I quickly tossed a green salad (green leaf lettuce, carrots, garlic stuffed olives, sliced onion), it’s all I had on hand.

Next, I heated up a little olive oil (enough to coat the bottom) in a nonstick pan on medium high heat. Tossed in the sliced chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked until fully cooked and lightly brown on both sides.  Then, I turned down the heat to medium low and added my favorite barbecue sauce.  I used approximately 3 tablespoons of sauce and a tablespoon of water to quickly coat the chicken.  When the sauce began to bubble, I turned off the heat.  I was ready to make mashed potatoes.  I like to watch how Chef John over at FoodWishes.com makes them.

Now, my family cannot eat barbecue without baked beans, so I opened up a can of Bush’s baked beans and warmed them in the microwave.  Ta-da! We were ready to eat!  And all in the time it took to cook the potatoes, just like I wanted.

I’m sure there are some Foodies out there that just rolled their eyes at this post and vowed never to return.  I’m cool with that.  Simple Daily Recipes exists for families that need quick ideas that will please all the kids, big and small.  I hope this dinner idea finds its way to your family.  I hope your kids gobble it up and ask for more.  I hope it allows you more time to do something else, like snuggling up on the couch with your family.