Honey Mustard Chicken and Potatoes

 

“Spring” and “Cleaning” tend to go hand in hand, and what better time to clean out your pantry than spring?

This is one of those dishes that has already become a family favorite with us.

It started with me scrounging around the pantry and refrigerator to see what we had on a night we sorely needed groceries.  You know, one of those nights where you think about combining odd things in your kitchen because you have nothing else left?  Like “Hmmm, I wonder if fish sauce, agave nectar and orange marmalade would be good?”

Nahhh, probably NOT!

So I started opening cupboards to see what I could add to chicken for something different.

Two things we always have as staples in our pantry are good mustard and honey. My mom brings us enormous jars of local honey from where she lives in Michigan. She gets them dirt cheap, as in $8/jar or something.

On the note of mustard, I am not really fond of plain old yellow mustard except occasionally on a soft pretzel or when at a ballpark on a hotdog, but even then I always prefer good mustard over it. I tend to favor a good Dijon or Whole-grain country-style mustard as my choice and had a jar of each hanging around at home.

Most people know what Dijon mustard is but whole-grain is perhaps a little less known. Whole grain is, just like it sounds. The mustard seed is left whole and it really adds to the sharpness of the mustard. The flavor is much deeper and lends beautifully to saucing meats like chicken or pork, so I mixed both kinds of mustard together and began working on flavoring a sauce to cook my chicken, potatoes and one lone red pepper and onion I found hanging out in the vegetable bin.

It is so simple to put this dish together.   I am not going to show you every little step to insult your intelligence.

Just lay 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking dish.  Add in about 20 small to medium sized potatoes. You could use small red potatoes or yellow potatoes. The ones I used were about the size of a ping pong ball.

Cut them in half and tuck them in between the chicken.  It’s ok if they all don’t fit on the bottom of the pan.  Then slice up one large yellow onion and one red pepper into thin half circle slices. Scatter them evenly over top of the chicken and potatoes.

Now – make this simple sauce by adding ½ cup of Dijon mustard and ½ cup of whole-ground mustard, one cup of honey and a splash (about a tablespoon) of balsamic vinegar. Stir it up with a whisk and pour it evenly around the baking dish.  Top it with foil and bake it in a 400º oven for about an hour or until you can stick a fork in the potatoes and the largest one you can find is soft.

Add a nice green salad or a green vegetable side dish and toast up some bread and you have a beautifully rustic and delicious meal for your family.

I hope yours enjoys it as much as ours did!

See what other fabulous food bloggers made when they cleaned out their pantries this week in Food Networks Sensational Sides challenge! Feed Me Phoebe: Artichoke Hummus Napa Farmhouse 1885: Spaghetti and Meatballs Red or Green: Sea Bass with Spicy Asian Ginger Sauce Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Quinoa Citrus Mango Avocado Black Bean Salad The Heritage Cook: Chile Tortilla Soup Cooking With Elise: Glorious Greek Salad Dressing Devour: Clean Out the Pantry Night Weelicious: Greek Nachos Virtually Homemade: Garlic Rosemary Pizza Crust Bites Domesticate Me: Fiesta Baked Eggs with Farro and Black Beans Taste With The Eyes: Mom’s Vintage Potato Salad Elephants and the Coconut Trees: Rice and Beans Casserole The Sensitive Epicure: Salmon and Brown Rice Casserole (Gluten-Free) Daily*Dishin: Spicy Chipotle Chicken Pasta with Crunchy Roasted Black Beans FN Dish: Pantry Clean-Out Sides