Chicken & Vegetable Nicoise
Submitted by Cazzia
Chicken breast baked in a foil packet with zucchini, roma tomatoes, green beans, garlic, and a squeeze of lemon. Served over angel hair pasta for a light, Provençal-inspired dinner with almost no cleanup.
YIELD
1 servingsPREP
25 minCOOK
20 minREADY
50 minEn papillote is just a fancy French way of saying “sealed in foil and let the oven do the magic."
This Nicoise-inspired packet wraps a chicken breast with fresh zucchini, roma tomatoes, green beans, slivered onions, and a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice.
Everything steams together in its own fragrant juices, so the chicken stays impossibly moist and the vegetables come out bright and tender.
Slide the whole thing over a nest of angel hair pasta, hit it with fresh parsley and a lemon wedge, and you’ve got a restaurant-quality plate for one or two.
Chef Tips
- Prep all your vegetables the night before and store them wrapped in the crisper. This turns a 50-minute recipe into a 30-minute one on a busy evening.
- Crimp the foil edges tightly so no steam escapes. That trapped moisture is what keeps the chicken silky.
- Cut the vegetables into small, even dice so they cook through in the same 20 minutes as the chicken breast.
- Open the foil packet carefully and away from your face. The burst of steam is intensely hot.
Ingredients
Directions
For this dish, all the vegetables can be cut up the night before and left well-wrapped in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.
Thirty minutes before dinner, assemble your packets while the oven preheats, then you’re set to go.
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Combine vegetables, garlic and 2 teaspoons parsley in a bowl.
Toss with 1 teaspoon olive oil, salt and pepper.
Take a large, heavy piece of aluminum foil, about 18 inches long, and fold in half crosswise.
Place the chicken breast half in center of one side of the foil.
Brush with remaining ½ teaspoon olive oil and sprinkle with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Surround with the seasoned vegetables.
Fold remaining half of foil over chicken and vegetables.
Crimp edges together to make a tightly sealed packet.
Place on a baking sheet and bake in center of the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Place cooked pasta on a dinner plate or in a shallow bowl.
Serve chicken and vegetables atop pasta.
Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon of parsley.
Serve with a lemon wedge alongside.
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