I have no problem with getting the prep done, and if I can get it done early in the day, or the day before, so much the better - so long as the final product's quality is unaffected.
This was an ad-lib I did ahead of time for a busy weekday dinner, turned out AWESOME!]
Chicken Primavera Alfredo
six chicken thighs, bone in and skin on, but trimmed of extra fat
3 green onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
six large cremini mushrooms, sliced thickly
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 sweet red pepper, chopped
black pepper
1 bottle ready-to-use Alfredo sauce (Hey! it's a week night! :-) )
Brown the chicken thighs in olive oil, get a lot of colour on them. Place them in a casserole or baking dish.
In the same saute pan you used for the chicken, brown the mushrooms, then add the other vegetables and black pepper. Once softened, pour around the chicken, making sure not to cover the chicken with the vegetables.
Next, spoon 1/2 the bottle of Alfredo sauce around the chicken, again, keep the beautiful brown crust of the chicken thighs uncovered. We still want this to be crisp when we eat it!
At this point you can cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. Within one day, you must bake it, for food safety reasons!
To bake, preheat your oven to 350. Remove the plastic wrap and place the baking dish in the oven. Bake for one hour. Serve with pasta, or zucchini strips, and the other 1/2 of the Alfredo sauce.
Delish! Really easy! and while it was baking unattended, we got a ton of stuff done.
