I introduced the budget friendly series last week, and today it’s time for the “Healthy Plate” series. 

French Onion Baked Chicken

One onion

Two or three cloves of garlic

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp sugar

Salt and pepper

Chicken

One cup chicken broth

2 tbsp white wine or vermouth

Slice the onion very finely, and saute in a little cooking oil. After the onions start to color, add sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic. 

When onions are golden brown, add flour and mix together well. Add chicken broth to deglaze the pan, then add the vermouth/wine. 

Place in the chicken and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until chicken internal temperature is 165.

I’ve been trying lately to learn more about nutrition and how to eat healthy. I want to find a sustainable, healthy way to eat. In this process I came across a model called the “Healthy Plate,” which was created to replace the food triangle. So this series is going to be recipes that I’ve made that fit into the new model.

Today’s meal is baked chicken with rice, green beans, and a salad. I’ve found salad to be a really easy way to add vegetables into a meal and make it align more with the “Healthy Plate.” I also made green beans, which I cooked with chicken broth, onion, and a crushed garlic clove. I just used two cans of cut green beans, as the fresh green beans have not looked good at my grocery store lately. 

I love french onion soup, and I’ve been experimenting lately with baking chicken. I’ve found that when I bake chicken in some kind of broth or liquid, it results in the most tender, juicy chicken. So I’ve been trying it out with any kind of liquid I can think of. French Onion was just a result of that brainstorm. 

For the french onion flavor, I originally considered using cans of french onion soup. I still think that could be good, but this time I made it more like a thicker version of french onion soup and just added the chicken to it.

Unfortunately, I only had enough chicken for two servings. However, I saved the leftover onion soup, and I think it will still be good to bake more chicken in when I get more. My husband and I both like leftovers, and this was a great thing to add to the freezer. I’m looking forward to an easy, last-minute meal one day.