In this recipe, each chicken breast half is baked in its own foil packet with a lemon-tarragon sauce and sliced mushrooms: so flavorful and so moist! Serve this lemon tarragon chicken with potatoes, rice, or any type of grain, plus a vegetable or a salad, and you have a quick, delicious meal!
I have been making this recipe for many years. In fact, I made it so often awhile back that I had to take a break from it for a time, and just tonight I made it again. No wonder I used to make it so often! It is so tasty and so easy! It’s easy, but it tastes like something special. I think it’s the baking of the chicken in the foil packet. The foil keeps in all that moisture, and the lemon juice, olive oil, and tarragon blend together so nicely. This recipe is very loosely adapted from a cookbook called 365 Ways to Cook Chicken by Cheryl Sedaker. Over the years I have tweaked it here and there to fit our tastes.
Do you ever feel like the forces of chaos have been unleashed into your life? That’s how I have been feeling this week, and in times like that, it’s good to fall back on a meal that is reliable, comforting, and nourishing. I can’t even quite explain what has been going on–I think it’s just a lot of little things happening all at once. In any case, food is a constant, food is a comfort. We all have to eat, no matter what is going on, or how crazy our days can become. If we can make eating enjoyable and restorative, then we are doing one important thing toward fostering a feeling of goodwill, toward building up rather than breaking down. And if we can pick some flowers and put them in a vase, so much the better!
One thing I love about this recipe is that there is minimal prep work, and then it bakes in the oven for twenty minutes. During that twenty minutes this evening, I also put some asparagus, mixed with garlic and Parmesan cheese, in the oven to roast along with the chicken, and then threw together some mashed potatoes. It all came together pretty quickly, yet it tasted like a real meal that took lots of time to prepare. Super-satisfying, yet easy on the one doing the cooking.
I hope you all have a great weekend! This is the perfect time to eat outdoors as much as possible, and don’t forget to marvel at all the beautiful flowers! I am adding this recipe to Angie’s Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Quinn @ dadwhats4dinner and Elaine @ Foodbod.
Lemon Tarragon Chicken
Ingredients:
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups of fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup of sweet onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried tarragon
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 4 teaspoons of lemon juice
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, chopped onion, tarragon, salt, and lemon juice. Stir well.
Tear off four sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil, about 12 by 18 inches. Line them up on your counter. Place a chicken breast on the lower half of each piece of foil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Evenly top each piece with the mushroom slices. Spoon the olive oil-lemon juice mixture evenly over each piece of chicken and mushrooms.
Fold the upper half of the foil down and seal it with the lower half. Make a series of locked folds all the way around the foil to seal each foil packet. Fold the edges for a tighter seal, while still allowing room for the heat to circulate and expand. Place the foil packets on a baking sheet and bake in your 450-degree oven for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is done and no longer pink. Cut an X in the top of each foil packet, fold the foil back, and transfer the chicken and mushrooms to a plate. Pour the remaining juices over the chicken, if desired. Serve with potatoes, rice, or a grain of your choice, plus a vegetable and/or salad. Enjoy!
I love a good leek and potato soup, but this time I wanted to add chicken to make the meal extra filling for my growing boy and my hungry husband. The mild flavor of chicken and chicken broth go great with the potatoes and leeks. At the end of the cooking time, I added milk instead of the traditional cream, to make it lighter, yet still creamy and silky. Leek and potato soup is usually pureed in a blender, but with the chicken, that is not such a good idea. However, I found that since the vegetables cooked all day in the crockpot, they were very tender and soft anyway. Topped with some fresh chives and salt and pepper, this meal is a keeper.
I have had my crockpot for many years, and I find it to be such a lifesaver during the times in our life when I am unable to be home making dinner at dinner time. This week has been that kind of a week, and this soup really hit the spot for my guys–with leftovers, we had it two nights in a row. If you need a quick crockpot soup to throw together in the morning so you can get out of a pinch in the evening, this is a delicious one!
My kids both had their band concert a couple of nights ago. There is something about listening to live music that is so invigorating and satisfying. It brings up all kinds of emotions and memories, and it brings people together. At the end of the concert, the combined high school and junior high bands played “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. Someone turned on the disco ball in the auditorium, and we in the audience sat there in the dark, with little twinkling lights swirling around us, listening to our kids play a song that was part of our own teenage years. For a few minutes we were suspended in time. When the concert ended and the lights came back on, I was not the only one with moist eyes. The band sounded so good! The kids played so well. Children grow so fast. Time flies. We are all in this together.
The recipe for this simple, yet elegant salad is from my grandmother: a charming, elegant lady who had a beautiful life, yet faced many challenges and struggles with a sense of grace that I can only hope to someday cultivate. According to my mother, my grandma often served this hot chicken salad at the bridal showers she hosted. My mother’s extended family is very large, and grandma liked to have parties, so she had a great many bridal showers at her house over the years. I can remember eating this lovely chicken salad at her house as a young girl, sitting at a table with my cousins and giggling.
I had some extra cooked chicken that needed to be used the other day, and suddenly remembered this salad. I’m so glad I made it, because not only does it taste delicious, it also gives me a chance to write a bit about my grandmother, and to share it here on the blog. This recipe is a classic that does not go out of style (at least in my opinion!)
Today is special for another reason. Today is my father’s birthday. I started this blog a couple months short of two years ago, soon after my father passed away. I had been wanting to start a blog for awhile, so I finally did, in part to honor the memory of him. He and I shared a passion for good food, photography, and writing. By focusing on these things, I felt (and still feel) a connection with him. I know he would enjoy it, and I also want to do justice to his camera that he gave to me when he knew his physical health was in question. I treasure that camera, and my memories of him.
