Barbells and Biscuits: Hummus Crusted Chicken

This recipe is simple, clean, and easy to make for several people or for prepping. I never thought to cook with Hummus before. One day, it dawned on me. Mostly because Pinterest. Every good idea comes from Pinterest. Which begs the question---what did we think about before Pinterest? I saw a homemade hummus recipe while Pinning and I thought---who doesn't know how to make hummus? Which began to distract me from my original mission which was to get new ideas for chicken. AND WHA BAM----the two ideas came together like Adam and Eve, Mariah and Nick Cannon, Peanutbutter and Jelly, Cleans and Jerks, and Whitney and Bobby. Yes, it was that iconic. Almost as brilliant as when Moses parted the red sea.

You could most def. make your own hummus for this. I did not. Not because I can't, I've made hummus a couple times, but honestly I live by this simple notion: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. There is a good reason why I don't make Wonton Soup, which we've talked about before. I have no business making wonton soup when Golden Garden does it just fine, and I got no business making hummus when Sabra does it better than fine.

Seriously, the real reason is my intention was not to impress people with this meal. I live alone. So any meal I cook that serves 4-5 people, really serves me 4-5 times during the week. When I prep all my meals for the week on Sunday, the last thing I want to do is make life harder. If I can cut a corner by purchasing something pre-made, like hummus or guac, I will.

Hummus Crusted Chicken

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 35-40 minutes

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken breasts, about 3 or 4 lbs.

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chili powder

1 cup roasted red pepper hummus, homemade or purchased

juice of one lemon

cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. While the oven is preheating clean the fat and skin, if necessary, from your chicken breasts.

3. Pat chicken breasts dry.

4. Spray a cast iron skillet (or a baking dish if your not cool enough to have a cast iron) with olive oil cooking spray.

5. Place all of the chicken breasts into the skillet.

6. Season chicken breasts with the spices: salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder.

7. Using the back of a spoon or a spatula smoother the entire cup of hummus over top the chicken breasts. It will look almost like there is no longer individual chicken breasts, but one big one--see below.