My husband, Dennis, works out every morning and eats healthy. He’s been a runner most of his life and has added the Sealfit (developed a former Navy Seal commander) workout to his morning routine. Dennis has been committed to this workout for the last several months and it shows. During the holiday season, on one of our many trips to Barnes and Noble, he found an exercise book by Donald Driver who used to play football for the Green Bay Packers. Dennis was intrigued by this book for many reasons. First – he loves a good workout plan, second – he is interested in eating healthy and third – he has been a Green Bay Packer fan since he was a young boy. We grew up in Wisconsin and if you live in Wisconsin, you really support your team. Donald Driver has some recipes in his book and one of them in particular caught his eye. Dennis saw a picture of a dish Mr. Driver recommends with sweet potatoes and chicken. He asked me if I could make something like that for dinner. I, of course, said “yes”. I couldn’t tell you what Donald’s recipe was, I only glanced at the picture.

I started by marinating thinly sliced chicken breasts in kosher salt, pepper, dried thyme, lemon zest, garlic and a bottle of Skinny Girl Balsamic Salad Dressing.  I once thought Skinny Girl only made margarita mix. Who knew?

I sprinkled both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper and dried thyme. I then spooned minced garlic (from the jar) over the chicken and the zest of one lemon. I let the chicken marinate for an hour. I sliced the zested lemon and set it aside to add to the pan.

Meanwhile, I peeled and cut three sweet potatoes. I’ll be honest and tell you, that only 2-1/2 of those potatoes went onto my sheet pan. I was eating them raw as I was cutting them. They are so tasty raw, even without any seasoning. It’s OK, it’s a healthy snack. 🙂 Sweet potatoes are so good for us. They have more fiber than a white potato and they are lower on the glycemic index than a white potato.

Once I peeled and sliced my sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch thick pieces, I placed them in a bowl. I then added two tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and mixed it all together with my hands.

I sliced a red onion into thick slices to add to the sheet pan with the potatoes.

I placed the chicken onto bed of sweet potatoes and onions knowing that the wonderful marinade would also season the potatoes and onions. I made sure to pour any extra marinade from the dish onto the pan.

I roasted this dish in a preheated 425 degree oven for 30 minutes. Just look at the wonderful color in this dinner. It looks so healthy and tasted really healthy! This dish was full of flavor. The juice from the lemons roasting on the pan, gave just the right hint of citrus and freshness to this dinner.

I told Dennis this might be my new favorite chicken dish. It ranks right up there with the spatchcocked chicken I made a couple weeks ago.

Ingredients

• 1 package thin sliced chicken breasts
• kosher salt
• pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• zest of one lemon, plus slices
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 12 bottle Skinny Girl Balsamic Salad Dressing (if you don’t have Skinny Girl, any balsamic dressing will do)
• 3 sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Place chicken in a dish large enough to marinate. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, pepper and dried thyme. Pour balsamic dressing over chicken and spoon mined garlic onto chicken. Add lemon zest. Let marinate for 45-60 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place in a dish and add olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Mix with hands. Lay on a large baking sheet.
4. Cut large red onion into thick slices. Add to pan with potatoes.
5. Place chicken on top of potato and onion “bed” and tuck lemon slices onto pan. Roast in preheated 425 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris