We had a slight change in plans for cooking club on Sunday due to the best of reasons: the arrival of a healthy baby!  So I also ended up making this Apple Chicken Bake, based off a recipe from Cooks.com. I needed to make something relatively easy which didn’t require a lot of fuss at the end.

I don’t bake chicken breasts very often because they’re….well….boring.  The bed of apples and yogurt makes this recipe slightly more interesting, and the orange slices are a nice touch, but this recipe falls short.

Next time, I would saute the chicken breasts in a pan first, and then transfer them to the dish.  I would also add some fresh herbs (sage? rosemary?) for more flavor and color.  But I would keep the apples, because they turned into a delicious compote, and I would keep the oranges because they look so pretty.  The only way you can figure out whether a recipe works is to try it!

Apple Chicken Bake

2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
2 large Macintosh apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 c. nonfat plain yogurt
5 chicken breasts (about 2-2.5 lbs.)
1 orange, unpeeled and sliced thinly

Place apples in the bottom of a 13″x9″ dish coated with cooking spray.  Spoon yogurt on top of apples and stir to combine.  Lay chicken breasts on top of apples.  Place orange slices on top of chicken breasts. Bake at 350F for about 1 hour, or until chicken breasts are done.

• Main Dishes