Baked Honey Mustard Chicken

Well, this was delicious. And beyond easy.

In our home, we are definitely honey mustard people. The tangy/sweet combo is perfect with ANYTHING. Veggies, french fries, sandwiches, heck... I could probably find a way to make it taste delicious as a cupcake filling. My husband has an unusual affinity for chicken, however. It's chicken all the time. If we go out to dinner with my parents, and Pat does not order chicken, they think that something is wrong. I did my husband a solid last weekend by making this chicken after laboring through a rough weekend of blizzards followed by the **POLAR VORTEX**.

This dish is basically perfect. You can also pair it with sublimely simple sides. I just made roasted sweet potato wedges and paired it with a mixed green salad dressed in a basic mustard vinaigrette. Followed by er... a chocolate chip cookie cake and Downton Abbey premier. Ok, we have to slip in some guilty pleasures sometimes.

The original recipe was found via pinterest (http://www.goodlifeeats.com/2013/03/easy-honey-mustard-baked-chicken.html#_a5y_p=1124097), but of course I had to tweak it for our taste buds. This recipe calls for chicken tenderloins, which I used, but kind of wish I had used whole chicken breasts pounded down. Also, since we are not onion people, I used a shallot to give it a similar flair. We had no rosemary, and I was not going to trek out into the snow just for that, but we had some thyme left over. In the end, I think the thyme suited the dish better, but feel free to use any herb you prefer. I also downsized the recipe to serve 2 (no leftovers here!), but kept the amount of sauce the same, since... you know... we'll just dip stuff in it all night. In our case, it served as a delicious dipping sauce for the sweet potato wedges.

Sauce:
1/4 C. grain mustard
1/4 C. Dijon mustard
1/2 C. honey
2 t. olive oil

Whisk all four ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Chicken:
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
olive oil
1 lb. chicken tenderloins, or two breasts
sprigs of thyme (or rosemary, or any herbacious goodness you prefer)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In an oven-proof saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and cook almost until translucent. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, but not burnt (1 minute). Place the chicken on top of the shallot/garlic mixture. Pour the sauce over the chicken, ensuring every nook and cranny is filled (if sauce is your thing). Save some for dipping after the chicken is cooked. Season with salt and pep. Toss your herbs into the pan, surrounding the chicken.

Place pan into preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes. If you use small tenderloins like I did, your chicken will be done now (but check to be safe!). If you are using whole breasts, baste the chicken with the sauce and pop back in the oven to another 10-15 minutes.

Make this immediately! It really will put a pep in your step. I mean... it's honey mustard.