Maple-Apple Chicken

This maple-apple chicken recipe could definitely be considered a healthy one, even though I added real maple syrup and regular Italian dressing. The amounts are small considering they are divided among four servings. The small, boneless, skinless chicken breast halves have virtually no fat and the other additions to this dish make their taste very distinctive and flavorful.

The recipe calls for an ovenproof skillet because that's what I used, but you could par cook the chicken in a frypan on top of the stove and transfer it to a shallow baking dish, topped with the other ingredients, to complete the cooking.

Ingredients

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1 medium onion cut about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick

2 red apples, unpared and cut up into chunks (The photo will give you a guide as to size.) Toss them with a bit of lemon juice to keep their white appearance.

1/2 cup maple syrup, pancake syrup, or honey

1/3 cup Italian dressing

Method

• Preheat oven to 350°F

• Spray your skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium-high.

• Make sure your chicken is nice and dry, season with salt and pepper, (if desired) and brown chicken (about 3-5 minutes) on each side. Oven cooking time is not very long, so if your chicken is thick, you may have to turn down the heat and cook for another few minutes.

• Spray a shallow baking dish if you are not using an ovenproof skillet. Chicken will be placed in the bottom.

• Place an onion slice on each chicken breast. Place the apple chunks nicely around the chicken.

• Mix the syrup or honey together with the dressing, and pour over chicken.

• Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through(165°F). Also check to be sure that the apple chunks and onion slices are just cooked...not mushy.

• Spoon the juices in the skillet over chicken just before serving.

Some recipes are just "favorites," and that is the case with our Apple Banana Bread. Try this with the apples, and I'll bet you'll never go back to just plain banana bread again.

Maple-Apple Chicken to Apple-Chicken Recipes



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