FRONT BURNER: Meal helpers get dinner on the table stat

Lemon Chicken With Barley and Vegetables
Lemon Chicken With Barley and Vegetables

I'm a big proponent of from-scratch cooking. I believe the less processed the ingredients, the more wholesome and nutritious the food. And the fewer additives, stabilizers and preservatives there are, the better the food will taste.

But to be honest, I don't have the time (or inclination) to cook all of my meals from scratch. After a long day at the office, I don't want to spend another two hours in the kitchen making dinner.

So I sometimes turn to "meal helpers" such as frozen vegetable and whole grain blends, jarred spaghetti sauce, seasoned heat-and-serve proteins, and even boxed shells and cheese.

The following recipe takes advantage of one such product — Knorr One Skillet Meals Lemon Chicken With Barley. The recipe on the package calls for adding carrots and baby spinach, but because my husband and I are not fans of cooked spinach, we opted to use carrots, a bell pepper and sugar snap peas.

The mix isn't completely additive and mystery ingredient free, but for the most part it includes relatively normal stuff: barley, maltodextrin, garlic, salt, dried lemon juice, onion powder, sugar, natural flavors derived from soy, whey powder, yeast extract, cornstarch, herbs and spices, chicken fat and dried parsley.

From start to finish, this meal can be on the table in a little over half an hour, but most of that time is hands off.

Lemon Chicken With Barley and Vegetables

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

Salt and ground black pepper

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ cups sliced carrots

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 package Knorr One Skillet Meals Lemon Chicken With Barley

1 to 1 ½ cups sugar snap peas

Season chicken with salt and pepper and toss with flour to coat.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken and saute 5 minutes or until browned. Add the carrots and bell pepper and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 2 cups water and the contents of the Knorr packet. Bring mixture to a boil, cover and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until barley is tender. Add sugar snap peas and cook 2 minutes more or until peas are crisp-tender.

Makes about 4 servings.

Food on 01/02/2019

Upcoming Events