Bisquick Pecan Chicken & Oven Roasted Asparagus

Earlier, while rummaging the fridge, I "discovered" a beautiful bunch of asparagus I picked up last visit to the grocery store. I've been avoiding asparagus lately because the stalks were the same size around as a penny, which is just too barky and tough for me. These stalks were maybe 1/4" in diameter, and a beautiful bright green - none of that darker purple or yellow at the bottom.

I decided to oven-roast them, my new favorite way to cook vegetables. I chopped off about an inch of the bottom, rinsed them, and spread them out on a pan. Then, I drizzled a little bit of olive oil and about 1/2 tsp. each of salt and pepper before rolling them around so they were all coated.

I finally remembered to defrost some meat! To celebrate this momentous occasion, I wanted to come up with something really tasty.

Bisquick Pecan Chicken:

1 package thin-sliced chicken breasts (~1 lb.)

1 egg, beaten
dash of salt

1/2 cup Bisquick (it's dairy free!!)
1/2 tsp. ea. onion powder, garlic powder, salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans (in the baking aisle)

First I dunked the chicken in the beaten, salted egg and then coated with the Bisquick pecan mix. I made sure the chicken was fully covered, but not overly caked on. Then layed the breasts out on a Pam-sprayed baking sheet.

Both the asparagus and chicken went into a 425° oven for about 17 minutes. I positioned the chicken on the 2nd rack, under the asparagus pan. This kept the chicken from the direct heat of the units, and also made a little make-shift "roof" to keep moisture in. I flipped the chicken half-way through the baking time so both sides of the coating could evenly cook.

The two times I opened the oven (to flip the chicken and take the pans out) there was just a cloud of moisture and steam that erupted from the oven. I think it was the combination of the tender asparagus and the positioning of the chicken pan underneath, but it was a great environment for the chicken to bake in. It was fork-tender and really juicy and flavorful. The nutty pecans in the breading really complimented the nuttiness that oven-roasting brings out in veggies.

Johnny reminded me at serving time that he doesn't like asparagus (oops!), but bravely gave this a try. He said "I don't know what you did to this, but I actually like it!" His remark on the chicken was "What is this coated with again? It's orgasmic!!" But, I'll just let our plates speak for themselves: