Lemon Chicken

Yesterday Geo and I went to a community dinner. The lady sitting across from us, with her husband, was eating a tuna fish sandwich. “You’re not eating the chicken stew?” I asked her.

“No,” she said with a little smile. “I brought this from home. It seems like all we’ve been eating lately is chicken. When I heard what they were serving today, I decided I just couldn’t eat any more chicken, so I brought this sandwich.”

At times I think I've felt the same way. At various dinners it's chicken that is served so very often. However, there are countless ways to prepare it. I recently came across a recipe that was different, yet so easy that I needed to try it. I had the main ingredients on hand – a package of organic chicken thighs, lemons, and onion.

While the chicken was still partly frozen, I trimmed the excess fat. (It’s easier that way.) I rinsed the chicken, patted it dry, then placed the pieces in the baking dish. 

I seasoned the chicken with thyme, Forward (one of my Penzey spice blends), a little salt and pepper. I added sliced onions, then poured fresh lemon juice with melted butter over all. 

We like a lot of onion!

After letting it marinate for a while in the fridge, I baked it, covered, at 325 degrees for about an hour.

It was good with mashed potatoes, but I think next time I will serve this with rice prepared with chopped green peppers, or even a little pineapple.

Here are the original recipe ingredients:

2 lbs chicken pieces                             1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1/4 C. lemon juice                                1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons melted butter                 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

1 small chopped onion                         1/4 teaspoon thyme                 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

This dish could even be prepared a day ahead to marinate overnight.

Now if it had been Lemon Chicken instead of chicken stew at the community dinner, I wonder whether that lady would still prefer a tuna fish sandwich. I do think the Lemon Chicken would win her over for chicken at least one more time!