French peasant food is perfect for easing minds and bringing families together during troubled times.  This was simple to make, since everything baked in one dish, and the aroma coming from the kitchen wafted throughout the house, teasing and tempting us.

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 Tbs Herbs de Provence

¼ cup vinegar and oil dressing (I cheated by using inexpensive, store-bought Italian dressing)

2 large red potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

3 or 4 carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces

A few rosemary sprigs

One cube of chicken bouillon

Several splashes of olive oil, probably 2 Tbs, total

1 ½ cup broccoli florets with stems

1 white onion, sliced into wedges

1/3 whole lemon (juice only)

¼ cup water

½ loaf French bread

3 Tbs unsalted butter

2 tsp garlic salt

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, add the vinegar and oil dressing and add the Herbs de Provence.  Add the chicken and mix by hand.  Marinate the chicken for at least one hour in the refrigerator.

Peel and cut the vegetables.  Set aside.  Reserve the peels and scraps from the vegetables and use them in a vegetable stock, for use in another dish.

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Set the oven to 400°.

Strip the rosemary leaves away from the stems.

Toss the potato and carrot pieces in olive oil and rosemary.  Set these aside.

Add the chicken bouillon cube to ¼ cup water.  Heat in the microwave for a minute to soften the bouillon.  Crush the bouillon with a small fork and mix with the warm water.  Set aside.

Pour a little olive oil into a large baking dish and add the chicken.  Top with the potatoes and carrots and drizzle the chicken bouillon broth over everything.

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Bake the chicken, potatoes and carrots in the oven for about 45 minutes. 

Squirt lemon juice over the broccoli and onion and toss with a little olive oil. 

Carefully pull the baking dish from the oven and check to see if the potatoes and carrots are nearly baked all the way.  If the potatoes or carrots are still hard, and can’t be easily split with a fork, return to the oven and check them again in 10 minutes.

Pull the dish out again and add the broccoli and onion. 

Return the dish to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.

Slice a loaf of French bread lengthwise and slather with melted butter and sprinkle it with the garlic salt.  Wrap in aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.