I got in the kitchen today. I couldn’t help myself. I watched Master Chef Jr. before bed last night and, not only did it make me hungry, it made me want to get a little fancy with my food. So I defrosted some chicken this morning and got to work.

I came up with an Asian-inspired baked chicken and paired it with lime-infused white rice. The lime gave the rice a zing that, while I don’t think I’d love on its own, was a nice balance to the subtle, savory flavor of the chicken.

If that sounds like your kind of cooking experiment, I’ve included my recipe below. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Asian Inspired Baked Chicken:

• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce (I used low sodium soy sauce)
• 1/4 cup Sesame Oil
• 1/4 cup Pineapple Juice
• 1/4 cup Lime Juice
• 2 tablespoons Honey
• 1 tablespoon Ground Ginger (minced ginger would likely work better, but I used what I had)
• 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
• 3 Boneless Chicken Breasts

Mix all ingredients in a bowl & whisk to blend well. Place chicken breasts in a gallon bag & pour marinade over. Seal & refrigerate until ready to cook. The longer you let it marinate, the stronger the flavor will likely be, but I was hungry, so I only left it to marinate an hour.

While the chicken is marinating, make up another batch or half batch of the marinade, depending on how full you want your baking dish, set it aside. You’ll pour this over the chicken when you’re ready to bake. (If you want a lot left over to mix with the rice, you’ll probably want to do another full batch.)

Bake at 450° for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle a dash more minced garlic over the top, let it sit for 10 minutes, then serve!

Lime Infused Rice:

I kept it simple for myself on this one. Minute brand white rice is what I had on hand, so that’s what I used. I let my water boil as normal, then stirred in my rice. Then, just before I covered it, I simply added 2 tablespoons of lime juice, then quickly removed it from the heat to let it absorb.

To blend it better with the chicken, once I had it on the rice on the plate, I drizzled a little of the leftover marinade from the baking dish over it & sprinkled on a little minced garlic.