Lamb shank, dry-aged ribeye, house-made sausage, locally cured thick-cut bacon… the meat department at our favorite grocery store is full of choices.  There are rows of bison New York strips, tiny whole quail, blue cheese stuffed burgers ready to go on the grill, and so many other proteins that make it easy to stand in awe and think of the thousands of ways you could make a fabulous dinner with any of those ingredients.

Then you get home, unpack your groceries and somehow, even though there were THREE types of Bison Steaks to choose from, you remove the decidedly boring boneless, skinless chicken breasts you grabbed from the pre-wrapped case without a second thought, and toss them into the meat chiller in your fridge.

How did this happen?!

I’ll tell you how:  because this is what we eat.  We occasionally have special meals — you know the kind — where you splurge on something fabulous at the store ( one day we will try those bison steaks … ), come home, and whip up a delightful meal in a mere 3 hours that pairs perfectly with that bottle of California Pinot Noir that you really should not have bought but hey, it’s like $5 more at every other store in town, so you pretty much saved money by buying it. Those meals are awesome.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts are rarely a part of those meals.  Boneless skinless chicken breasts are much more likely to be found on a Tuesday night dinner plate, and frankly, as a repeat on Wednesday, and maybe again in Thursday’s ( and who are we kidding, Friday’s ) lunch.  They’re cheap, they’re about as healthy as meat gets, and they are essentially a blank slate.

After a while though, that slate starts to seem a little less blank.  I’d be willing to bet you’ve had boneless skinless chicken breast in the past week.  I’d also be willing to bet that you’ve had it prepared exactly the same way at least twice in the past month, if not more.  This is why my number one question asked by readers ( and friends, and even other food bloggers! ) is:

“What do you do with boneless skinless chicken breast?”

There are so many answers to that, and I hope I can start to answer that question more thoroughly over the rest of the summer, but for now, let’s start with the basics.  Here’s my recipe ( or method, really ), for great, simple, boneless skinless chicken breasts that are perfectly delicious as your main star of a meal, and are also a great topper for salads, substitute for lunch meat, or mix-in with your favorite pasta dish.  Small bonus, this recipe also includes my favorite 15-minute dinner at the end of it!

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