Oh that Chicken!

Hey y'all! I just love watching Paula Deen on the Food Network. She reminds me of the women in my family... pretty, loves to cook, southern twang, and kind of sassy! My family loves casseroles, and I love making them. They're generally easy, tasty, and quick to clean up after. Paula's Chicken Boudine is no exception. This isn't my recipe, so I'm giving credit where it's due. Man, is it good! Take the time to toast the almond slivers. It's totally what makes the dish pop!

Two out of my three guys have colds, so that means one thing. Soup! Warm, soothing to a scratchy throat, and a way to get lots of fluids, soup is the answer. My adorable husband loves my Chicken and Wild Rice soup (as seen below), so I'll have to fix that for him. Unfortunately, my second grader does NOT like soup. He's the infinitely picky one who won't try real food most of the time. His favorite dish that I make is lovingly called "Black Chicken." Here's how to make it:

Black Chicken

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup real mayonnaise
3 Tablespoons soy sauce


Butterfly each chicken breast and place between two layers of plastic wrap. Pound with smooth side of a meat mallet until about 1/4" thick. Place in large zip style baggie. Add mayo and soy sauce to baggie. Seal and squish to mix marinade. Place in refrigerator and let marinate at least 15 minutes. Longer is better. 


Preheat a grill pan or traditional grill. Spray with high heat cooking spray when hot. You want the pan to be really hot so that the sugars in the soy sauce caramelize and render a dark crunchy crust on the chicken without burning it. Cook the chicken 3-4 minutes per side until the chicken is done. It will cook very quickly because it is so thin. 


I serve this with all sorts of different things. My personal favorite is to make couscous and my skillet green beans. The kiddo likes mac n cheese from the box, please. :P The chicken breasts also make great sandwiches, so go ahead and try it. If you have a picky eater who only likes crunchy things, maybe s/he will go for this. 

Oh, and in case you're interested... I've had so many people tell me that they never liked green beans until they tried mine. :) I am not a fan of crunchy, fresh green beans. Guess I ate too many canned ones growing up. Nor do I like green beans from the can in all of that bland liquid, so when I got my own kitchen, I began to experiment. Here's what I do.

Skillet Green Beans

2 cans green beans (style is your choice)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt


Drain the green beans well. Heat a large skillet and cover the bottom of the pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Dump in the green beans. Saute them until they are hot and just starting to brown a bit. Remove from heat and dust with a pinch of sea salt.

That's it! If you're salt sensitive, try a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. You won't believe how good these are! Let me know if you like them! Remember, If you love it, feed it. So keep lovin' and keep cookin'!