I got this cookbook- Betty Crooker's Quick & Easy Cookbook- when I went to college and remember trying to make a few of the recipes. They seemed really complicated with lots of strange ingredients at the time and I never used the book. But I decided to try a few of the recipes out lately. Now that I've been married 3 years and cooking for a while, I realize the book is great and love almost all of the recipes. I discovered a very yummy dinner last night that was super easy to make: "Cornmeal Chicken with Fresh Peach Salsa."
It took like 5 minutes to prepare the chicken- but it bakes for 45 minutes, and then the salsa just had a few ingredients to chop and toss together. Once the meal was complete I looked at it and thought, ought oh, this might be interesting -you know, one of those things that looks great on paper but ends up tasting gross. But is was surprisingly super yummy and I will totally have to make it again.
I decided to put the chicken over couscous too. We have had a few parties here where they served couscous and Dan and I really liked it. I've been keeping my eye out for it and saw it at Walmart the other day in a little box. I have been trying to find a recipe to use it in and this one just happened to work. It was quite delicious. So if you want to try something new- give this recipe a try. I think you'll like it.
Cornmeal Chicken with Fresh Peach Salsa
Fresh Peach Salsa (below)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 pounds) *I used 6 chicken thighs instead
1. Mix cornmeal, salt and pepper. *I also added a few pinches of ground red pepper. Wash chicken and pat dry. Coat chicken with cornmeal mixture.
2. Cook chicken in oil 15-20 minutes, turning once, until juice is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. *I put the thighs in a pan, and cooked them in the oven for 45 minutes on 375F instead of frying them.
3. Make Peach Salsa and serve.
Fresh Peach Salsa
3 cups chopped peeled peaches *I used nectarines instead
1 large tomato, chopped (1 cup)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt.
Mix all ingredients.
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