SAVORY VEGETABLE CHICKEN

If you like chicken dishes with plenty of flavor, lots of color and a gob of healthy vegetables give this one a try. There are carrots, onions, mushrooms, garlic, celery and parsley smothering pieces of moist, savory chicken. I used chicken breasts, but a cut-up fryer or thighs would be delicious too with the dark meat. The key to the flavorful chicken is browning it in the garlic flavored butter first. Plus, having all of the vegetables cook with the meat means the whole dinner comes out of the oven in one dish--I love that! I served this with homemade corn bread on the side to mop up the sauce and it was a hit.

Coat a 4-5 pound cut up roasting chicken, or 4-5 lg. chicken breasts in mixture of:

1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Set aside.

Place in skillet over medium heat:

1/4 cup butter
1 clove garlic, quartered

When butter just begins to bubble, remove garlic pieces and cut into tiny bits to set aside and put into the vegetables. Brown chicken pieces in the butter, then transfer to a 3 quart baking dish. Don't wash the skillet--you'll be using it next.

In the skillet saute until slightly brown:

2 medium onions sliced thin
2 cups chopped celery
4 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

Stir in:

2 Tablespoons minced, fresh parsley
Pinch of thyme and pinch of marjoram
Dash Worcestershire sauce
6 peppercorns, slightly bruised (or just pepper)
1 bay leaf, crumbled
Chopped, cooked garlic from the butter

Let simmer on low heat for a few minutes to let the flavors blend together. Season with salt to taste and pour over the browned chicken in the baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees until tender, approx. 1 1/2-2 hours for the cut up fryer, less for the chicken breasts. Chicken should have no pink juices at all when done and vegetables are fork-tender. I like to turn the chicken over with the vegetables once or twice during cooking to make sure everything is being cooked evenly. Makes 6-7 servings.