Pan Roasted Chicken Breast

I love chicken. Maybe because as a kid, my stepfather would roast chicken on Sundays and make the best gravy on the planet and serve it up with roasted onions and mashed potatoes. It was the ultimate Sunday dinner.

When I want a quick and dirty version of his delicious baked chicken, I go for a bone in, skin on, chicken breast. I sear it, skin down, for the ultimate savory crunch, toss in some mushrooms, quartered onion, fresh herbs and shove it in the oven.

This is a great one pan meal for one person. You can also add as you go, get a bigger pan and add a chicken breast per person.

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Salt and pepper both sides of your chicken breast, a handful of mushrooms and half a quartered onion. (Add more onion and mushrooms if you're making more than one chicken breast.)

3. Coat the bottom of a metal handled pan with olive oil. Heat it on medium high.

4. When the oil is hot, sear your chicken breast, skin side down. This should take about five to eight minutes. Make sure it's nice and golden brown.

5. Once it's brown, turn off the flame.

6. Drop the mushrooms, onion and a fresh woody herb like parsely or thyme in the pan.

7. Put the pan in the oven for anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the breast. For smaller chicken breasts, check after 15 minutes. If juices run clear and meat is firm to the touch, take it out. Check large chicken breasts around 22 minutes.

NOTE: The more chicken breasts you make, the longer they'll take in the oven. For example, if you put two breasts in the pan you may want to cook them about 30 minutes.

8. Remove pan from oven. Plate food and let it rest for 5 minutes so the juices can redistribute.

And that's it. Sunday dinner in less than a half hour. Easy, right?

Suzie