Easy Chicken Dijon (and some potatoes on the side...)

I found this recipe in the January / February 2009 issue of a Weight Watchers magazine (pg. 151 to be exact!).

It is a nice little (healthy) throwback to Shake 'n Bake (which I loooved growing up!). The baked breaded chicken is not only delicious on its own, but the mustard, oregano and thyme in the seasoning remind me of flavors in a delicious roasted chicken dish that an old college friend's native Greek mother used to make. Her version involved roasting whole chickens over potatoes - all marinated in lemon, olive oil, mustard and oregano. Her chicken was divine, but this recipe may just be a liiitttttle easier, and healthier too!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. chicken drumsticks, skinned.
  
• 3 Tbsp. whole-grain dijon mustard. (don't stress folks, use whatever dijon you have around)
• 2/3 cup panko, or any kind of bread crumbs
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried herbs (such as tarragon, thyme, or oregano.
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 450. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and lightly spray with nonstick spray.
  
• Brush the drumsticks with the mustard. Mix the bread crumbs, herbs, salt, and pepper in a large ziploc bag; add the drumsticks. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag; urn to coat the drumsticks.
  
• Place the drumsticks on the prepared baking sheet and lightly spray with nonstick spray. Bake until browned, 35-40 minutes, spraying the drumsticks with nonstick spray halfway through the baking time.
  
• Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

Some Tweaks....
This is a great recipe - and already incredibly healthy. I just prefer boneless chicken breasts on average over drumsticks (unless it's really good, unhealthy, southern-style fried chicken of course!) But as a lady who is usually cooking for one, I typically only keep individually wrapped frozen chicken breasts on hand, knowing that I'll never make it through a whole pack of fresh chicken in a week on my own. So I preferred to make this recipe with about 3-4 small boneless chicken breasts rather than the full version with drumsticks.

There's really nothing stopping you from making this recipe for one chicken breast at a time on a weeknight, but I made a couple so I could have leftovers throughout the week (best reheated in a toaster oven).

Boneless chicken breasts cooks faster, though - so make sure that you...

• Lower the oven temperature to somewhere around 375 degrees.
• Reduce the cooking time to around 20 minutes. (Although to be honest, I was winging it when I did it - just knowing I needed to reduce the time - so I think I baked them for around 20 minutes but keep an eye on them!

The recipe in the magazine says that 2 drumsticks are 4 weight watchers points, and since the program also estimates that a 3-point piece of chicken breast is about the size of your palm, I think it's safe to say one average-to-small chicken breast would be about 4 points too.

Use the mustard and herbs as a rub for roasted baby potatoes too....
I've actually used these flavors in the past (again - inspired by this one dish made by my old friend's Greek Goddess of a mother), rubbing them on these special small yukon gold potatoes that I get at the store (either Safeway, Harris Teeter).

Coating the potatoes with some mustard and a little bit of oil (although nonstick spray would take out the calories) and a little bit of salt, pepper, thyme and oregano makes the potatoes just as good as the chicken, and would be great served as a side. My boyfriend loved these potatoes when I made them once, so I can't wait to make him this chicken to go alongwith them!

(PS - if you go easy on the oil, these potatoes are pretty healthy too! The mustard and spices are zero points, so a small portion would round out this meal that would make even Lean Cuisine proud...)