Chicken, Asparagus, and Garlic Bread

This one is pretty easy and quick.

4 stars

Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Lemon juice
Seasonings
Butter
Cheese (preferably something like Monterrey Jack)




Asparagus
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Cheese (preferably something like grated Parmesan or finely grated Italian cheese)

Italian Bread
Garlic spread

Marinate your chicken breasts in lemon juice and seasonings -- I used garlic and herb seasonings -- Mrs. Dash -- for however long you want. I think I let mine marinate for about 2 hours, but I had to go take a nap with Elliott. ;)

Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a pan (hey, it's better for you than margarine!) and brown your chicken breasts at high heat for just a couple minutes. Then turn the heat way down and cover them and let them steam/simmer while you do everything else. All told, they should probably cook for at least 15-20 minutes this way, but cut into the thickest part of one of them to make sure it's not still pink before you serve.

Heat the oven to Broil.

While your chicken breasts are steam/simmering, get out your asparagus. This is really easy. Simply snap the asparagus where it wants to snap, and you won't end up with those tough stringy ends. Then put all your asparagus in a Ziploc bag and put in some olive oil. Shake to coat all the stalks with oil. Then I arrange them on a rack on top of a roasting pan.

Before cooking the asparagus, I prepare my bread. Just slice off the amount of bread you want, and then cut it lengthwise. Spread your butter/garlic spread on it (I cheat and buy the one from Wal-mart or Kroger). Because I only have one set of racks, and I'm using those for the asparagus, I just put the bread on a sheet of aluminum foil.

Put the asparagus and the bread under the broiler for just a couple minutes -- it really does not take long, and you don't want to overdo it, because overdone asparagus is a bit gross, and you don't want charcoal bread. For me, tonight, I checked the bread after 4 minutes or so, and it was perfect, so I pulled it out and then checked the asparagus. It was done too.

When you put the asparagus and bread in, cover the chicken breasts with their cheese and put the lid back on.

When you pull the asparagus out, spray it with lemon juice and sprinkle it with cheese while it's still warm. Serve right away, because cold asparagus just isn't as good.

Easy easy dinner, and very tasty. Even Elliott, the one year old, loved the asparagus!

Thanks go to my mom for the asparagus recipe, and for teaching me that garlic bread does not live in the freezer!