Magic Chicken

Zac and I have been eating like we go to fancy restaurants every night recently, and it's awesome. You know Zac loves to cook, but we were in a rut where he was tired of making all the same things. I was happy to do my small part and find some new recipes so that our menu was a bit more exciting.

Enter this magic chicken stuff. It probably has a real name, but this stuff is magic. It's quick to prepare, it uses ingredients you probably have at home, and you truly could make this for company. And it's delicious.

Want to make it for dinner tonight? You can!

Chicken Asparagus Roll-Ups
Recipe from Allrecipes.com, found via Pinterest

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested
• 2 teaspoons dried tarragon
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 16 spears fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Grease a baking dish. In a bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest, tarragon, salt, and pepper until the mixture is well combined. Set aside.
2. Cook asparagus in the microwave on High until bright green and just tender, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Set the asparagus spears aside. Place a chicken breast between two sheets of heavy plastic (resealable freezer bags work well) on a solid, level surface. Firmly pound the chicken breast with the smooth side of a meat mallet to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Repeat with the rest of the chicken breasts.
3. Place 1 slice of provolone on each chicken breast, and top the cheese with 4 asparagus spears per breast. Roll the chicken breasts around the asparagus and cheese, making a tidy package, and place, seam sides down, in the prepared baking dish. With a pastry brush, apply a coating of the mayonnaise mixture to each chicken breast, and sprinkle each with panko crumbs, pressing the crumbs into the chicken to make a coating.

1. Bake in the preheated oven until the crumbs are browned and the chicken juices run clear, about 25 minutes.

Remember, Zac is fancy, so he made a few edits. He substituted fresh thyme from our garden for the tarragon. We also put some of the sauce inside the roll-ups between the cheese and the asparagus. YUM.

Zac said it tasted like "if chicken they serve you at banquets was actually good."  It was super yummy.


And this is how my dinner is plated every single night. Those nights I spent home alone while he was working late restaurant hours were worth it.

It was super yummy with couscous. I hope you make it and love it too!


The one thing that's different from when Zac was working in a restaurant? His sous chef. The one we have now is a little bit furrier...

We like to "do Derby's voice" and say what we think he would say in a funny voice. Can you see it here? He's probably saying/thinking: "Hey Mom! I got you this potholder and brought it into the living room in case you need it in here because that's how much I love you and I just want to help and can I have some chicken if you don't eat it all because it's 7:02 PM right now and you were supposed to get me dinner at 7:00 PM but don't worry you're still my favorite person in the entire world."