one skillet chicken, kale + portobello pizza bake

let’s talk a little bit about doing the dishes.

sounds like a fun monday topic, right?

i have always been a believer that it doesn’t matter how many dishes you use when making a recipe. and this is because i have always been spoiled lucky enough to have a dishwasher! {i’m talkin the machine kind, not the human kind}.

so you’ve got a recipe that uses up three pots, one pan, five mixing bowls + ten utensils before hitting the dinner table? okay with me! as long as everything fits into the magic cleaning machine, then no complaints here!

it’s like i always won a bet + danny the dishwasher had to do the cleanup for me. total win.

this ‘more dishes – no problem’ was a sound theory. that was until, i met the one skillet meal…

WHY DO WE ALWAYS USE SO MANY PANS! POOR DANNY THE DISHWASHER!

did you know that you can make an amazing meal with just ONE skillet. ONE skillet people! maybe a tiny side plate, a kitchen tong + a flipper {what do you call this thing? a pancake flipper? a spatula? a pancake flipper spatula?} but ONLY ONE skillet!

lets just say this this chicken, kale + portobello pizza bake brought on a little bit of a outlook change for me.

don’t get me wrong, i understand some recipes will require a well-deserved arsenal of pots + pans but knowing that there are one skillet meals out there for a busy night is just so relieving!

let me walk you through your new favorite busy night meal. .

place a skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. take the wrapping off of two lovely chicken breasts, put them in an oven-proof skillet. season the chicken with a dash of salt + a grind of pepper. once the chicken breasts are seared on both sides, you remove them to a tiny side plate {this is dish numero dos, peeps}.

then you drizzle a drizzle of oil in the SAME SKILLET. let some garlic flavor up the oil, toss sliced kale + portobellos into that SAME SKILLET. once those veggies have cooked a bit {approximately 5 minutes of kitchen dancing time} then you put the chicken back in the SAME SKILLET, pour pizza sauce over the whole thing + top it with a generous handful or two of shredded mozzarella cheese.

guess what happens next?

you put that SAME SKILLET in the oven, let it bake for 20 minutes + you serve dinner.. FROM THE SAME SKILLET!

not only will the chicken, kale + portobello pizza bake put a smile on your face bite after bite, but you’ll be smiling all the way through dinner because tonight, you’re paying back your good friend danny the dishwasher by giving him the night off.

all you’re going to do is wipe that ONE SKILLET clean + you my friend, just cooked dinner + performed a cleanup worthy of the record books, all on a busy night! bravo!

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 no oven-proof skillet? no problem! while i do recommend this one here, you can easily still make this dish without one. simply perform all of the stove-top steps + then transfer the kale mix into the oven-proof dish to then build your pizza bake on top of it! all cook times will remain the same!

 treat this one skillet bake as you would a pizza! i would suggest to keep the kale around just for your healths sake but spinach would be a milder swap in – remember that the greens soak up a lot of the moisture so if you remove them all together then adjust your liquid in the recipe. ALSO, if you think you don’t like kale then please please try it cooked this way first, i just might make a greens lover out of you.

you can also play around with the ‘toppings’.  since portobellos eat like a meat i choose them to beef up the meal + stretch the chicken.. so keep that in mind when making changes – you might want to add another chicken breast or two if you take the mushrooms out!

 

it’s like a pizza!  serve it up with an ice cold stella artois or a glass of red wine does the trick just fine!

this dish is best the night of! you can, of course, reheat via the microwave but the chicken get’s a bit funky + the ooey gooey pizza feeling just isn’t there like it is straight from the oven! -k