Cluck, cluck, cluck

We eat a lot of chicken. I bet you do too. Everyone I know eats a lot of chicken. I'm always looking for new ways to prepare it and keep it interesting. My Mom once made a chicken parmigiana with cornflakes out of the microwave oven recipe book. It was tragic. This was better.

Chicken on croutons with olives and onions (from Good Housekeeping)

1 loaf French or sourdough bread (9-12 oz), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper
1 whole chicken (3 1/2 lbs.), cut into 8 pieces, skin removed from all but wings
1 small red onion (6-8 oz) thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed with press
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 C pitted Kalamata olives, halved
1/4 C packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425. In an 18" by 12" jelly-roll pan, arrange bread cubes in a single layer, without spaces between cubes. Drizzle 1 TBSP oil over bread and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. In a large bowl, combine chicken, onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and remaining oil. Toss until well mixed. Arrange chicken pieces in single layer on top of bread, spacing 1/2 inch apart; scatter onion mixture over chicken and bread.

3. Roast 30 minutes. Scatter olives over chicken and bread. Roast 5 minutes more or until juices run clear when chicken in pierced with tip of a knife. With spatula, transfer chicken mixture on croutons to large platter. Garnish with parsley.

This all turned out to be very tasty. I had some salad alongside, which was a lovely combination. However, the proportions of the recipe seemed a little off to me. To begin with, my oven is tiny; it's like an Easy Bake oven. So I cannot use an 18" by 12" pan. I used a smaller cookie sheet. Even so, the 1-inch bread cubes did not fill it completely. And I used a 12 oz bread loaf. So I think it may need more bread. I understand that the whole business is healthier without the skin on the chicken, and the chicken was not dried out, but the bread dried out pretty quickly where it wasn't under the chicken. I might leave some skin on for the roasting next time to baste the bread. You can always remove it before eating, if you are a health nut. I also availed myself of the Purdue whole, cut up chicken offered at my grocery store. This made preparation much easier. I highly recommend it.