My first meal was what I would call outstanding! Well that means that I liked it and if no one else liked it that was just too bad. I made my soon to be famous chicken, with vegetables and a tomato salad dinner. So off to the store I went. I purchased chicken parts (I just happen to like dark meat so my choice was for chicken thighs’ but this will work with any chicken parts) then I selected garlic powder, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and paprika. In the produce section I selected onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots, celery, zucchini, and parsnips. I also purchased good olive oil and went back and found some real garlic. Back in the produce section I selected tomatoes, yellow onions, and fresh parsley and oregano. I was now ready for the checkout counter. Passing the bakery department I was drawn to a Boston cream pie and the next thing I knew it was inside my cart. Oh well I did not plan for desert so now I had one.

For those of you who would like to try this tasty meal all you need to do is follow my recipe below:

Baked Chicken Parts:

Place chicken parts on a baking pan (I place allunim foil on the baking pan prior to the chicken as it speeds up cleaning after).
Season with the following: Garlic Powder; Salt; Pepper; Italian seasoning; and Paprika.
Turn chicken parts over on the baking pan and
Season again with the following: Garlic Powder; Salt; Pepper; Italian seasoning; and Paprika.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and remove chicken parts from pan before they cool so you reduce the fat content.

Baked Vegetables

I selected the following vegetables items please feel free to add or delete your choice of vegetables.
Onions, Bell peppers, Mushrooms, Carrots, Celery, Zucchini, Parsnips and Garlic.
Cut the above into pieces, an onion and bell peppers are cut in half and then the half into quarters and then half the quarters. Carrots, zucchini and parsnips should be cut in half the long way and then cut into one and one half inch pieces. Dice at least two garlic cloves and cut the celery stock into pieces about one and one half inch long.
Place the cut pieces into a large bowl, season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Add an amount of olive oil to lightly coat the individual pieces and mix together. Pour lightly coated pieces on a baking sheet and make pieces lie flat on the baking sheet. Place sheet with vegetables in a preheated oven for at least one hour remove and serve hot.

Johns Tomato Salad

Six to eight vine ripe tomatoes washed and cut into wedges, (each tomato should produce eight to twelve wedges. Place tomato wedges into a shallow bowl. Two garlic cloves diced and placed into bowl with tomato wedges, one medium red onion cut into bite size pieces and placed into the bowl with the tomato wedges. Chop some fresh basal and parsley and sprinkle over salad, add extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and let sit at room temperature for at least two hours before serving. (Hint – if you like this salad try some french bread dipped into the remaining liquid at the bottom of the bowel. I have made the salad just to have the liquid with bread.) I hope you enjoy this salad as much as I.