Happy Monday once again, friends! I know it’s been a crazy time, between the election and Covid and now daylights savings time, and I really just wanted something easy to prep this week, but I also wanted to use up what I had laying around, and this is what I came up with!
This is heavily based on the Honey Roasted Chicken and Sweet Potato Skillet from Creme de la Crumb, but I didn’t have everything she called for so I switched it up a bit. I’m willing to be that you’ve got everything you need to make your own variation of this already in your pantry and fridge/freezer. Here are the components:
- Protein – honestly just about anything would work! I used chicken breasts, but any piece of meat, or tofu/tempeh, would work here. Check your freezer and use up those odds and ends, just make sure to cook them to whatever temp they need to go to in order to be save to eat
- Starch – I used sweet potatoes but there are so many possibilities here! Any kind of potato would be delicious, but also virtually any squash would work, or any starchy sort of thing you’ve got laying around. Yum!
- Veg – I wanted something green and had some broccoli, but, again, just about anything would work, or a variety of things would be even better! I cooked them separately from the potatoes and chicken just because I didn’t have enough pan space and I wanted it to get a bit crispy
- Spice blend – grab that spice blend you bought that one time but have barely used and get another use out of it! Just about anything will work here. I like something with a bit of spice to it to counteract the honey in this recipe, but you can always throw in some red pepper flakes if your spice blend is mild, like mine was
- Crunchy nuts – use whatever nuts you’ve got, or leave them out! I love the crunch they bring to the party
Now, take whatever components you’ve got and follow the recipe below, adjusting cook times as needed to reach the visual indicators included. Enjoy your creation!
Chicken with Honeyed Sweet Potato and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- large head of broccoli
- 2ish Tbsp oil
- 4 tbsp honey, divided
- 4 tbsp butter, divided
- 1-2 tbsp spice blend of choice, divided
- red pepper flakes, optional, to taste
- 1/3 C slivered almonds
How to do it
- preheat the oven to 400*
- prep the veg: chop the potatoes into cubes and place into a bowl. cut the broccoli into bite sized florets. spread the broccoli onto a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil and salt. toss to combine, then set aside.
- prep the chicken: trim the meat to remove any extra fat and season generously with half of the spice blend and red pepper flakes
- start cooking: heat a large, oven safe skillet over medium heat. once hot, add half the butter and half the honey. once melted, add the prepped chicken breasts. let cook for 3-4 minutes per side, then remove and set aside
- add the remaining butter and honey to the pan. once melted, add the prepped potatoes and remaining spice blend and red pepper flakes. toss to coat and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- add the almonds to the potatoes and mix to combine. nestle the chicken among the potatoes and place the skillet and the prepped broccoli in the oven. cook the broccoli for 15 minutes. check the chicken after about 10 minutes and remove once done. continue cooking the sweet potatoes until they’re very tender. the broccoli will likely be done before the potatoes and that’s fine! just set aside
- let cool and enjoy!