Bacon-Wrapped Cilantro Chicken

It's back-to-school time!  Kids are heading back into the classrooms, back onto sports teams, back into organized groups and activities......

In other words, let the REAL insanity begin.

Now, just because we're all racing around from school to practice to scouts to some other such thing does NOT mean dinner has to be equally rushed and crazy.  By now, y'all should know that it pretty much doesn't matter to me how crazy my life gets.

I WILL figure out a way to get a nutritious, home-cooked meal into my family.  And recipes like this one totally make that easier.

Bacon-Wrapped Cilantro Chicken
Recipe slightly adapted from You Hunt, I Gather
Prep time: 5 minutes   Cook time: 30 minutes

1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
12 - 16 chicken tenders
6 - 8 strips of bacon, cut in half

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the cilantro, mustard and honey.

Basically, you want equal parts honey and cilantro, with slightly less mustard.

3.  Add the chicken to the bowl and toss to coat.  Wrap each piece of chicken in a half strip of bacon and carefully lay in the hot skillet (No toothpicks required?!?!?  HALLELUJAH and PRAISE JESUS!!!).  Quickly brown the bacon-wrapped chicken on all sides and then remove to an ungreased baking dish.  You don't want to cook the chicken in the skillet, just get the bacon starting to crisp.

No need to get fancy; use your hands to coat the chicken.

4.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the juices run clear.

I may have gotten distracted unloading the dishwasher while the 2nd batch was in the pan.
Maybe.

When I first saw the measurements for this recipe, I was super skeptical.  I mean, I like cilantro but this really calls for that much?  So glad that I actually followed the recipe for once and didn't reduce it.  The Dijon totally stands up to cilantro's distinct flavor while the honey plays mediator and calms everyone down.  And with the salty bacon coming along and giving everyone a group hug, how could this dish not have a happy ending?!

Seriously, it takes seconds to whip up this marinade and minutes to wrap up the chicken.  And there's no reason why these couldn't be assembled in the morning, waiting to be cooked up when you get home at night.  See?  Homemade dinner is totally doable, even on the busiest of evenings.              

p.s. If cilantro truly isn't your thing then use another herb you like instead.  Just remember that you might need more or less depending on what you pick.  Parsley might need a larger measurement, while rosemary might need to be cut down a bit.  Play around with it!