Tangy, Spicy, Apricot Baked Chicken

I had a craving for a dish I used to make when I first started cooking in my early twenties.  I glanced at recipe that was similar and it immediately came back to my mind.  I would use Kraft Russian salad dressing, apricot jam,  onion & garlic powder.  I would heat it all up and pour it over chicken and bake it.  It was really good and I haven't made that for years and years now.  I decided it was time to make it again, if only for nostalgic reasons - and that it's an easy dish for a weeknight... My side would be "No Yolks" egg noodles, avoiding extra cholesterol, fat and sodium - though there's still plenty of carbs in 'em.  I needed some carbs today...

I decided to re-adapt my old recipe.  I used to use bone in, skin on chicken thighs for this.  Tonight I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and pounded them with a mallet till about a half inch thick.

I did this between wax paper on a cutting board.  I seasoned with kosher salt & fresh cracked pepper (both sides) and laid them in a 13" x  9" baking dish sprayed with "Pam".

I went about making the sauce.  I also preheated the oven to 350°F.  In a sauce pan, I sauteed a sweet onion in olive oil.  I added 4 cloves of minced garlic and a good teaspoon of crushed chili flakes.

I added in a half cup of Russian dressing and the same of no sugar apricot jam.  There is lots of sugar in the Russian dressing so I didn't need it in the jam as well.  I also added a tablespoon of reduced sodium soy sauce.  I was going to squeeze a lime in too, but I forgot, even though I put the lime in front of me on the counter.  I guess I got carried away with the mallet and the joy of pounding.  😏

I was trying to get that balance of tangy, sweet, salty and spicy going on.  I simmered it for about 10 minutes until the onions were really soft and then poured it over the chicken.

I put it in the oven and set the timer for 35 minutes.  I made my noodles during that time.  I tossed them with a touch of extra virgin olive oil, Italian parsley and fresh cracked pepper.

The chicken was done on time.  I plated and garnished with more Italian parsley.

This was better than I remember and it didn't have all the grease from the chicken skin.  However, the noodles were really slippery and kept falling off my fork, lol.  I really enjoyed this.  I will keep it in the rotation.  Very comforting on this day, when I needed it.