Man Meal | Cheesy Bacon & Mushroom Chicken

Thank you, StumbleUpon, for once again answering the question, "what's for dinner?" for me.

Mmm... bacon, cheese, honey mustard... wow.

Much, much, much appreciated. Remember how I said bacon was the Chuck Norris of foods? Well, this is the Walker, Texas Ranger of bacon's career.

This recipe, originally found here on Everyday Home Cook, received the ultimate boyfriend seal-of-approval: a grunted "yes," followed by a sound, snoring nap.

Mushrooms and honey mustard are boyfriend staples in our house and, well, the whole bacon thing, so I wasn't surprised.

The recipe itself is pretty simple - honey mustard-marinaded chicken, seasoned with paprika, salt, and pepper, seared in the skillet, and baked in the oven topped with sauteed mushrooms, bacon, and cheese.

Simple and delicious. To make this more weeknight-friendly, I skipped the two-hour soak in honey mustard wonderfulness. I'm sure it would have only been better had I done that, but this was more of a spontaneous dinner decision. So I did make a few changes and my adapted, quick and easy version is below. Enjoy!


Cheesy Bacon & Mushroom Chicken
Yield | 3-4 servings

Prep Time | 5-10 minutes
Cook Time | 25 minutes
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Ingredients:


1-1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup honey mustard (I LOVE Emeril's, has a nice kick!)
2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 of a red onion, sliced
7-8 slices of bacon, partially cooked and crumbled
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Salt
Pepper
Cajun seasoning

Love, love, LOVE Cajun seasoning blends.

Parsley (we were out, so no pretty garnish for ours!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat EVOO in skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning. I am obsessed with trying different blends of Cajun spices so I have several different kinds around, but don't go out and buy any if you don't have some on hand - paprika or cayenne pepper would be delicious, too!

Cook chicken until browned (but not cooked through), brushing with Worchestershire sauce and honey mustard on each side. Remove chicken from skillet and set in baking pan.

Season and coat with honey mustard. Smells amazing.

Such a good combination!

I added a little more mustard to the veggies. Yum!

Drain some of the juices from the pan and add mushrooms and red onions. Saute until the mushrooms are tender and the onions are nearly translucent.

If you're using regular ol' bacon, you'll want to cook that partially though now - I used thick-cut precooked bacon, tasted great and shaved off a little more time!

Brush chicken with honey mustard once more and top with bacon, mushrooms and onions, and cheese.

Doesn't bacon look good with a side of chicken?

So mushroomy. So bacony. So good.

 Bake for 15-20 minutes, until chicken is cooked.

Oh yeah. So good. Not exactly health-conscious, but sometimes, you just have to do it anyways!

The leftovers also made excellent next-day sandwiches. A little more honey mustard, maybe some ranch, lettuce, tomato, and mayo... quite nomtastic.

Next time: Blackened Tilapia with Fettuccine and Grilled Summer Veggies... inspired by How Sweet It Is's Grilled Corn and Tomato Fettuccine... so good!