Last week Heather and Annie were out and about doing mommy-daughter things when I decided to flex my culinary muscles by making myself dinner. I dug around the refrigerator for ingredients, then got down to the business of preparing this yummy – and generally healthy – meal. I was pleasantly surprised with just how well it turned out, and when Heather got home she said, “Whoa! That smells AMAZING!” Annie too was impressed, as the enticing aroma inspired her to ask for a banana (okay, it might not have been my dinner… the kid is just obsessed with bananas).
The next night Heather requested that I make the meal for her, since dubbed “Mike Vegetable Chicken,” and so I put on my chef’s hat (literally) and got cooking. It turned out great again, and is terrific for two. Hope you like it!
Mike’s Vegetable Chicken
You need:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tomatoes
1 cup diced onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms
spinach
butter (optional)
cheese (optional)
Dice tomatoes while your child gazes at you adoringly (child optional).
Wrangle all those diced tomatoes into the pan.
Add onions and mushroom to the pan (as well as garlic if you are so inclined for additional taste). Stop there for the super healthy version, add butter for a tastier/more cholesterol-y delight!
Place your raw chicken breasts on top of the veggies, then cover with Popeye’s favorite food.
Cover your pan and cook on high heat for 20 minutes. Every five minutes or so stop playing “Angry Birds” on your phone to stir.
Voilà! It is ready to serve!
The regular version tastes great, but adding cheese really kicks it up a notch. Go on! Treat yourself! You’re already eating a bunch of veggies!
The moment of truth… Heather… the Simon Cowell of our home… tries it out!
And she’s impressed! In fact, I say a little too impressed. Men can cook too, Heather. So sexist. Jeez.
This meal is really easy to make (a big plus), and also one you can add your own embellishments to. So try tossing in some garlic or even an additional favorite vegetable! But don’t forget to tell the person you make it for that it’s called “Mike’s Amazing Vegetable Chicken!” Wait. Heather won’t let me use “amazing” on my first cooking post. So, ahem, tell them it’s “Mike’s Vegetable Chicken.”
Bon Jovi! I mean, er, Bon Appétit!
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup sliced tomatoes
- spinach
- butter (optional)
- cheese (optional)
- Dice tomatoes and onions.
- Add tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and optional butter in a saute pan.
- Place chicken breasts on top of vegetables in pan.
- Cover chicken with spinach.
- Cover pan and cook on high heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add cheese or salt to taste.
Michell DuBose says:
This sounds really good and as soon as I am well enough to cook again (I have pnumonia) I think I will try it.
Darcie says:
I have to be honest – Heather’s face does NOT say impressed…LOL!
Although, it looks delicious!
Mike says:
I think what you are seeing in her face is shock! At how incredible my cooking is!
Darcie says:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I see!
Connie says:
I’m always looking for healthy recipes that are easy but most importantly, taste wonderful. This is soooo good! Now we can have Heather’s amazing spaghetti sauce and Mike’s amazing vegetable chicken every week! Thanks guys!!!!!
pgoodness says:
Looks good, but I don’t understand the cheese “optional” part…. when is cheese ever optional?!
Kelley says:
Okay…seriously. I TOTALLY agree. Cheese is NEVER optional. It’s a requirement!
Christie says:
Looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it!
Unfortunately my store has a back order on children so glad they are optional :^)
Lisa says:
That reminds me of an article that appeared in our local paper, written by one of my colleagues who included the ingredient breast of children in her account of what the Women Interested in Children’s organization was served at their holiday gala. Thank goodness (or not) that I was not the editor on the desk the day that story came out:)
Julie says:
What kind of cheese did you use, and how much? Is that mozzarella in the picture? Mike’s Vegetable Chicken looks scrumptious!!
Mike says:
Thanks, Julie! I used shredded mozzarella, and put it on immediately after serving the dish so that the still hot chicken and veggies melted the cheese. As for how much, that really is personally preference. I put on a decent amount as you can see in the picture.
Rebecca says:
It looks like Heather wants to barf, are you sure it’s tasty?
Heather says:
HAHAHA! Yes, I actually ate the entire thing, and I promise, it was very very tasty. I want it again tomorrow night!
Jeannine says:
Do you slice up the breasts first or just plop them in there whole?
Whole would be preferable to me because i can’t handle touching raw chicken (or any meat, for that matter..). but i was thinking i’d be worried they wouldnt cook evenly and the middle of the breast wouldnt cook all the way?
Also I really am enjoying your recipe posts.
I might wow my family with this one.
Mike says:
Hi Jeannine,
No need to cut the chicken ahead of time! I used Foster Farms’ thin sliced breast fillets, and they cooked all the way through no problem.
Jenny S says:
it looks so ‘saucy’. what makes it look that way, just the juice from the tomatoes/mush/butter? looks delicious!
Mike says:
Yes… the “sauce” comes just from the butter and tomatoes/onions!
KH says:
Hi Mike – where does all of the liquid come from? The vegetables?
Looks good!
Mike says:
Thanks! The liquid comes from the butter and veggies!
G says:
i’m confused. Heather face is saying one thing but she’s giving your dish a thumbs-up.
which is it; like of dislike
lol
Heather says:
I clearly fail at facial expressions – I thought it was delicious! I was just surprised by how delicious it was!
Beth says:
I looked at the end result and thought about how good it would be over white rice. Leave it to me to add carbs to an otherwise healthy meal.
Expat Mom says:
That does look yummy and since Heather DID chime in to set the record straight on the face thing, I think I’ll have to try that. I bet my kids would even eat it, but I am 99.9% sure they won’t gaze on me adoringly like your little munchkin while I’m making it!
Courtney Contos says:
Leave it to a dude, albeit, a lovely dude, to call a dish with half a stick of butter “healthy!”;)
Mike says:
Ha! Yes, butter isn’t too healthy, but you can put in less or even none if you like to make it more healthy.
Heather says:
I totally called him on that too! Although to be fair, it was only a tablespoon, so 1/8 of a stick or so. My math is fuzzy.
Kristen says:
Or tub margarine that is trans fat free has less calories and fat so it wouldn’t be so bad
Jessi @ Quirky Cookery says:
I can’t decide which picture is better….the one with Annie looking at Mike’s hat, being all adorable and cute like she always is….or the last picture of Heather being “impressed,” ha!
Becky says:
Do you mean to say 1 cup sliced mushrooms? Because you say 2 tomatoes, and then 1 cup sliced tomatoes, once in the post and once in the printable recipe!;) This looks FANTASTIC and I can’t wait to try it!:) Thanks!
P.S. I LOVE these friday food posts!:)
Mike says:
Good catch, Becky! Yes, mushrooms! Just fixed it…
Kay says:
Ohhh, this looks awesome. I’m becoming quite a fan of the Spohr recipes. So far the ones I’ve tried have been great (Heather’s pumpkin bread being my favorite) and I can’t wait to try this one soon!
Erika says:
Oh man, this looks soo delicious!! Absolutely NOT trying to sound nitpicky, but would you include onions to step #2 so that I could print this out? I think it was accidentally left out Thanks a bunch!
Erika says:
Oops, I didn’t mean to rate this recipe with only 3 stars, especially since I haven’t even made it yet!! :(( Darn iPhone!!
LaurieSL says:
Good job Mike! Did you make this up yourself? It’d be a great recipe for allrecipes.com. You should submit it, I’m sure other families would love to add it to their recipe box!
Mike says:
Thanks, Laurie! I did make it up myself!
Tara says:
Yum! That looks delicious! Now I want to eat this for dinner tonight instead of what I already cooked.
Leslie says:
Oh I am so excited to try this. I am in such a rut cooking for my 3 year old and she will love this!!!! And I will put the butter in, life is short!! Thanks!
janeen says:
I made this and added Thai seasonings then served it with rice noodles….DELISH!
Mike says:
Thai seasoning and rice noodles sound like great additions! I will have to try that!
Kerri says:
I made this tonight and it was sooo good! I sauteed some garlic in a little EVOO with just a bit of butter, but otherwise stuck to your recipe. Can I tell you how impressed I am that you came up with this? Not that YOU came up it, but that anyone is able to look at a bunch of ingredients in the fridge, throw them together, and come up with an original recipe. I love to cook, but oh boy, I need a recipe…there is no thinking outside the box going on here. Kudos!
Kerri says:
Oh no, I forgot to rate it. Oh yes, sir, I gave you 5 stars. Anything healthy (after removing most of the butter and cheese) that is that good warrants 5 stars in my book.
Mike says:
Thanks, Kerri! I appreciate your nice words and am glad you liked it!
Kerri says:
You are so welcome…and thank you. You can let Heather know that it is now in my recipe box as “Mike’s Amazing Veggie Chicken”. And you are right, men can cook too…but if you could send that memo to my husband, I would greatly appreciate it.
David says:
Its such a nice food I like eating vegetable..Thank you for sharing the recipe to us..I am going o cook this on week end..
Ashlea says:
I made this for my boyfriend Saturday night! He loved it =) However, I substituted the onions & mushrooms for olives stuffed with blue cheese and added broccoli & more fresh tomatoes in the last 5 minutes. I topped it with Parmesan. Thanks Mike!!
Neeroc says:
I think I just figured out what I’m making for dinner tonight! Sounds awesom.
Glenda says:
Sounds yummy! Way to go Mike!
ldoo says:
Mike – I pinned the recipe on Pinterest. Looks delicious and quick. Trying it tomorrow.
Stephanie says:
When I saw this on Friday, it looked so good that I wanted to make it right away! Went to make it today and realized I had no chicken in the house. Major fail. I skipped the chicken and just threw some shrimp in during the last couple minutes. Served it over a little whole wheat pasta. Delicious! I will definitely try it with chicken next time, but it was awesome with shrimp, too. Thanks for the recipe!
Jessica says:
I made this last night and it turned out great. My husband, who always says thank you when he grabs his plate and then eats quietly, actually spoke during dinner last night! He said, “Wow, this is really good babe!” I did add the garlic and pre-seasoned the chicken just a bit with salt, pepper. I also substituted extra virgin olive oil for the butter, served it over brown rice and it was delish!!
Thanks for the recipe! It will be making an appearance in our dinner menu quite often.
I am currently slow cookin’ the Chicken Chili Verde for tonight’s dinner. Hopefully another 2 thumbs up dinner
Mike says:
Glad to hear it went over so well! Pre-seasoning is a good idea. I will add that in the future!
Jamie In Indy says:
I made this last week and it got four thumbs up from the hubby and son. I didn’t put the butter in and added about 3 cups of low sodium chicken broth. They both like their food spicy so they added cajun seasoning to it. They will not stop talking about it so I am making it again tonight! Thanks for the great (and healthy) recipe. It is cold in Indiana so soup sounds really good right about now.
Mike says:
Hi Jamie… Glad it worked out! I love the idea of adding the low sodium chicken broth. That makes it a bit healthier but keeps the taste! I will have to try that.
James says:
What kind of pan is that? It looks super useful!
Trish says:
Just made this tonight – we don’t like mushrooms so I substituted yellow bell pepper instead. The green of the spinach, yellow of the bell pepper and red of the tomato made it a beautiful dish and soooo tasty!! My 6 year old loved it!! Served it over brown rice. I added salt while cooking instead of at the table, and it was DELISH!!!!!!!!
Tracy says:
I have now made this recipe and the Balsamic Chicken and both are great! So easy too which I love!! Keep posting these easy, yummy and healthy recipes, please!! As a working mom, dinner always seems to get the best of me but with these type of recipes, it was a no brainer and I made dinner in the time my husband did the baby’s bath! Bonus!!
Lindsay from Boston says:
Just tried this one out, Mike! Thanks for such an easy recipe. I combined some of the above suggestions, and I substituted olive oil for the butter and seasoned the chicken with some Cajun spices (love spicy food!). Served it over white rice.
DELICIOUS, and the left-overs will feed me for days! Thanks again!
Mike says:
Thanks, Lindsay! I’m a lover of spicy food too, so I think I will try it with some Cajun seasoning. Good idea!