I hate chicken. If I never had to eat chicken ever again, I would be perfectly content for the rest of my life. However, try and take beef away from me and I will hurt you. Chicken is just terrible all the way around. It's bland and boring. I hate cooking it because it's so disgusting when it's raw...I don't want to touch it or even look at it. I'm terrified of cooking it because I'm afraid that I'm not going to cook it well enough, get salmonella and die. Plus, you really have to do a lot to it to make it taste good because it's just so bland on its own...aka: it requires a lot of work that I don't want to do. Beef on the other hand...sprinkle a little seasoning on it, cook it any which way you choose and voila, delicious. You can even under-cook it and that makes it taste even better. Win, win. Unfortunately, my husband says that we should eat less beef and more chicken because it's less fattening and a healthier option. He's a fun ruin-er. No wonder it's less fattening and healthier, it tastes like nothing. So typically what happens at my house is we make the dreaded chicken breasts (because my husband forces me too) which I hate and then I end up drenching it in ranch dressing or something delicious in order to make it actually taste like something...thus, destroying that whole "less fattening and healthier option". Alas, I have been experimenting recently with ways to marinade my chicken so that I can actually enjoy it and not add a billion extra calories thanks to dressings like ranch. So when you are in the kitchen and need to add a little extra flavor to something, what do you do? You rely on your trusty old friend...alcohol. Turns out that wine and beer aren't just for drinking, but for marinating too. My mother-in-law taught me the art of cooking with beer years ago. Basically the rule is whenever a recipe calls for water, you substitute beer instead. This is especially true for anything in the Crockpot. If you notice that your Crockpot dish needs a little more liquid, don't waste the opportunity for flavor on water, use beer instead.
Which brings me to my newest creation...chicken and red wine. There are two things that we have plenty of at my house that I don't care for myself, and that's chicken and red wine. Jared loves both of them, and I do not. However, put them together in the oven for about 45 minutes and I might just be able to get on board. Presenting a super easy way to make your boring chicken breasts taste so much better...
I do not have a catchy name for this dish other than "my new favorite way to cook boring, bland chicken breasts and make wine an essential staple in your diet". Sorry blog world.
Step 1: Pour about a 1/2 cup of balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing and 1 cup of red wine into a baking dish. Coat both sides of the chicken breasts in the marinade and then submerge the chicken in the baking dish. Sprinkle a little black pepper, garlic and light brown sugar on top of each chicken breast.
Step 2: Bake in the oven on 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. If the chicken breasts you are using are extra thick, then maybe add about 5-10 extra minutes of cooking time. Serve and enjoy! I drizzled a little extra of the leftover sauce on top of the chicken once it was on my plate. I also drizzled a little on my veggies too.
This is the perfect way to jazz up those boring chicken breasts! And don't forget to use the left over wine and pour yourself a glass to enjoy with your meal as well. I'm sure that the more wine you drink, the better the chicken will taste :)
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