Don’t we all love ranch dressing, at least to some extent? Maybe it brings back memories of being a kid, or of our own kids … everything seems to taste better dipped in ranch – carrots, celery, chicken nuggets, French fries, I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Tonight for dinner, I decided to marinate chicken breasts in a dip I made by combining plain Greek yogurt, a package of ranch dressing mix, minced garlic, minced shallots, and minced chives.

I started by piercing the chicken in several spots with a small, sharp paring knife. (I like to do this because I feel it lets a little more flavor seep into the meat). I then sprinkled the breasts with kosher salt and pepper (both sides).

I placed large dollops of my ranch dip mixture over the chicken and spread it around before placing it into the refrigerator for an hour and a half to marinate.

After I pulled the chicken out of the refrigerator, I placed it on a rack on my baking sheet and baked it in a preheated 425 degree oven for 45 minutes. Depending on the size of your chicken breasts, this may take only 30-35 minutes. I didn’t realize quite how large my breasts were until I pulled them from the package. Let’s just say that with four chicken breasts, we have enough for the week!

After the chicken baked for the allotted time, I turned the oven to broil and broiled the chicken for 3 minutes.

Marinating with Greek yogurt really helps to keep the chicken moist. I served the chicken over a bed of sautéd balsamic spinach.

It’s funny, you start out with a bag of spinach that looks like it could feed your entire block, but really only feeds a few.

I made sure to mince a few extra chives to use for garnish on the chicken. This chicken dish was definitely a hit with Dennis, he really enjoyed it and is looking forward to eating it again for lunch tomorrow … and the next day, and the next day!

Give this one a try, I think you’ll like it!

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced chives, plus more for garnish
• 1 package dry Ranch dressing mix
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Make small slits in chicken and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
2. In bowl, combine yogurt, ranch dressing mix, garlic, shallots and chives. Mix well.
3. Spread yogurt mixture over chicken and marinate for 1-2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
5. Place chicken on rack on baking sheet and bake for 35-45 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
6. Sprinkle additional minced chives over chicken before serving.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris