Whole30: Week 2 Recap + One-Pan Balsamic Chicken Recipe

Confession: I ate Cool Ranch Doritos last night. And they were soooo good. And they were soooo not Whole30 compliant.

Okay, I feel so much better with that off my chest now! I’m halfway through the program and that was the first non-compliant thing I’ve had (excluding alcohol, which I’m giving myself a cheat day for 1 day/week) and I felt so guilty!

Honestly, the second week was harder than the first. I started craving things more, like sweets and a really good cappuccino. Oh what I wouldn’t do for a macaroon (or 5) and a skinny cap! And cooking every single night is really hard and time-consuming and draining, and sometimes all I want is just to order a pizza.

However, I can feel a huge difference in my body. I’m on track with my weight goal, I have more energy and just overall feel better.

We are also getting into a good rhythm with the food. My latest favorite thing to eat for breakfast is canadian bacon with some fig on top – yum! Lunches have still been salads. And for dinner we’ve been trying some new recipes for dinner (thank you, Pinterest). I’ve been specifically looking for things other than chicken to eat, which can get so boring so fast. Unfortunately we don’t eat seafood, so I think it makes it a little harder for us, but last week we cooked some delicious steaks and made bun-less bacon burgers and tonight I have some pork chops in the crockpot that already smell amaaazing! (I’ll share that recipe in next week’s recap)

This week I want to share this amazing one-pan chicken dish. It was seriously so easy and so good that I’ll probably make it once a week from now on. It says it yields 3-4 servings, so I was hoping we would have some leftover for lunches, but nope. We ate it all up!

O N E – P A N  B A L S A M I C  C H I C K E N

via

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Italian salad dressing (I recommend using Kraft light Italian it’s the perfect consistency for this and it’s what I used)
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp honey (okay, so this is not Whole30 compliant, but I think it will be okay!)
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste – be careful, this can make your dish really spicy really fast)
• 1 1/4 lbs chicken breast tenderloins
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed of tough ends, chopped into 2-inch pieces (look for thinner stalks. Green beans are another good option)
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

Directions

• In a mixing bowl whisk together salad dressing, balsamic vinegar, honey and red pepper flakes, set aside.
• Heat olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste, then place chicken evenly in skillet. Cook about 6 – 7 minutes, rotating once halfway through cooking, until chicken has cooked through (meanwhile, chop asparagus and tomatoes). Add half the dressing mixture to skillet and rotate chicken to evenly coat. Transfer chicken to a large plate or a serving platter while leaving sauce in skillet. Add asparagus to skillet, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer veggies to plate or platter with chicken.
• Add remaining dressing mixture to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes to chicken and asparagus and drizzle dressing mixture in pan over top (or return chicken and veggies to pan and toss to coat).

xo xo
You might also enjoy: Whole30: Week 1 Recap, One-Pot Chicken Lo Mein Recipe