“Dreamy” Maple Pecan Chicken

Last nights dinner was a perfect creation and even my daughter who is our pickiest eater said “Mom you have GOT to blog this one”! This recipe actually came to me in a dream last week, I can’t even escape my love of food in my sleep for Pete’s sake! Most often my kids tell me how “gross” the meals that we have are so this one must have been a real winner for them to eat it and love it. My silly kids have no idea what “gross meals” are, got to love them!

The recipe below is for my “Dreamy” Maple Pecan Chicken. I call it such as it came from a dream and tasted like a dream!

Ingredients:

4 med to lg boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 cups pecans (the lovely Georgia Pecans I used are yumoso)

1 cup pure Maple Syrup (I’m spoiled by my New England roots and keep VT pure on hand even in AL)

heaping tbsp of brown sugar

cinnamon (per taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop pecans into small bits and set aside. Prep and rinse chicken and place in large baking pan. Pour maple syrup over the chicken and make sure it coats both sides of the chicken well. Roll the syrup covered chicken in the chopped pecans covering both sides well then place back in baking pan. Take the brown sugar and sprinkle over the chicken evenly then add cinnamon to the top. Bake for about 45 minutes or until done.

Sides I used:

Green mix salad with homemade balsamic vinagrette dressing

Cinnamon Butter Whole Grain Pasta

Boil noodles as directed. Toss with about 2 tbsp of whipped butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and mix well!

I picked up a great loaf of most delicious bread while I was at Kroger, it was Rosemary Potato Bread and man was it good! I sliced that and served with a balsamic, garlic, parmesan dipping sauce and it was so good!

For the Balsamic vinagarett I used 1/2 cup Olive oil, 3/4 cup balsamic vinagar and shook well, very easy, huh! When I made the dipping sauce I put part of that dressing in a small bowl, added a clove of minced garlic, black pepper to taste and about 1 heaping tbsp on parmesan cheese and mixed together!

This Chicken will make your house smell so so yummy and will make for super satisfied bellies:-) I loved watching my husband inhale this after a long a day at work!