John’s Quick Chick Bake
I spent last weekend at the coastal retreat of my friend John. So lovely to be by the sea surrounded by native Australian flora where the only sounds to disturb us were the birds chirping in the morning!
John is well known for his cooking prowess, and contributed some lovely recipes to my recent book.
Here’s what we had for dinner - a quick and easy chicken dish, hence the cute name I gave to the dish.
Preparation time 5 minutes, cook time 30 minutes. Easy! This recipe serves 4 people.
4 free-range chicken breasts
2 tablespoons dry spice rub of your choice - any rub with dried herbs
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 lemons, halved
12 cherry tomatoes
Fresh herbs for baking - thyme or sage or oregano
Salt and ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C, 180°C fan forced.
Coat each chicken breast liberally in the spice rub and place in a baking dish large enough to hold the 4 breasts.
Place 4 lemon halves in the dish on top of the chicken, cut side up. Scatter the cherry tomatoes throughout the dish. Drizzle the olive oil over everything and season with plenty of salt and ground black pepper.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. If your chicken breasts are large, you may need an extra 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve with whatever you fancy - John served up baked potato and baked sweet potato. Rice or couscous would be good too.
And don’t forget a glass of chilled white wine. Perfect lunch or easy dinner fare!