Guest post from Michelle of The Willing Cook
Yeast is one of those ingredients that is becoming banned from more and more people’s diet lists, for various health reasons. I recently did some food allergy cooking for a friend who had about 50 items to which she was allergic, yeast being one of them.
I wanted to serve her a salad, but did not know what to do with the vinegar (yeast is often an ingredient in vinegar) found in most store-bought and homemade salad dressings (not to mention the other ingredients she had to avoid).
After doing some research, I came up with an Italian dressing recipe that turned out delicious.
I recently concocted the dressing again, this time as a marinade for our chicken. My husband’s response, “That’s the way marinade on chicken is supposed to taste. I couldn’t quit eating it.” It really was that good, very healthy, and simple to make.
Italian Lemon Chicken
(Makes a double batch, depending upon your family size. Multiply ingredients accordingly to freeze.)
Ingredients
**See ingredient substitution notes below recipe.**
- 4-6 pounds of chicken (Use whatever chicken you desire, whether chicken breasts (boneless or bone-in), chicken thighs, drumsticks, cut-up fryer, etc.)
- 1/3 cup lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil, canola oil, or olive oil (or a combination of oils)
- 1/2 teaspoon each of the following dried spices: garlic powder, basil, oregano, onion powder, kosher salt, black pepper, paprika
Directions
- Rinse chicken and remove any fat or skin (if desired); separate into two freezer bags (or baking dish if cooking right away).
- Whisk together the remaining ingredients to make the marinade.
- Pour 1/2 the marinade into each freezer bag; seal tightly and place in freezer.
- When ready to prepare the chicken to cook, remove bag from freezer and place in baking dish (to make sure there aren’t any holes in the bag) and place dish in the refrigerator to thaw for about 24 hours. Once thawed, allow to marinate as long as you can.
- Cooking: Use whatever cooking method you prefer. I baked my chicken in the oven on 325 degrees for about 1 hour, then turned up to 375 degrees for about 20-30 minutes to complete. This chicken would cook beautifully in the crockpot, as well as on the grill.
- Serve over steamed brown rice or homemade rice pilaf with a vegetable and enjoy the benefits of delicious and easy freezer cooking!
Ingredient Substitutions:
You can substitute apple cider vinegar for the lemon, if desired. I would caution you that it will change the flavor somewhat and the lemon flavor was only a slight hint. So, I recommend you leave the lemon in 🙂
Michelle is blessed to stay home with her three children (ages 10, 7, and 4), while her husband works to provide. When she’s not experimenting with allergy-friendly meals, she’s blogging about it at The Willing Cook. Through the Willing Cook, her hope is that you gain peace of mind in your kitchen (and your pocket book) and are able to serve those you love who suffer with food allergies.
Thank you. This sounds absolutely delicious and a bonus that it can be made up ahead of time as a freezer meal. Will add extra chicken to my grocery list for tomorrow.
Thank you for this recipe. I needed to do something today with some chicken breasts I bought on sale and this fit the bill nicely. I love how easy it is and it’s nice to have a recipe in mind if I’m ever cooking for someone who can’t have yeast.
I’m not a whiz in the kitchen (to put it mildly…). So I have to ask…how would you transition this into a crock pot recipe? I hope that’s not a silly question…I have just botched too many recipes over the years :).
Wendy,
I haven’t made this in the crockpot, but all you would do is the following..
– If you’re making it fresh (not from the freezer), whisk together all the marinade ingredients. Put the chicken in the crockpot and pour marinade over it. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until chicken is fully cooked.
-From the freezer, allow chicken to thaw completely and empty the freezer bag into the crockpot (marinade should have been frozen with the chicken) and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until chicken is fully cooked.
I hope that works for you.
Michelle
Bless you for cooking for your yeast allergic friend. I was allergic to yeast for 17 years and most people were terrified to cook anything for me.
When you see your friend drowning in a sea of despair because of newly discovered allergies and you have the ability to help, I think it is both our joy and our obligation to do so. Even though I have never had to deal with as many allergies as she did, I know the nuts & bolts of allergy cooking. It was my pleasure to come along side her.