Because who doesn’t like teriyaki chicken?

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I found a sheet-pan teriyaki chicken starter kit at the grocery store, and I bought it, because I love teriyaki chicken. The small box made itself a fixture in my pantry for a couple of weeks, then I moved it to the counter. The days would pass, and I looked at the packaging with the photo on the front and thought to myself, My teriyaki chicken would never look like the picture on the packaging, so why bother? I decided I was being hard on myself, and the likelihood of me being able to craft the meal as they did for the photo was unrealistic.

I got together a pack of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about a pound and a half), a bag of mixed frozen peppers, a head of fresh broccoli, a white onion, and a can of chunked pineapple.

I preheated the oven to 350°. As the oven was warming, I took a glass Pyrex dish and lined it with aluminum foil, turning it into a sheet pan, silver, like the picture on the package, and to also minimize dirty dishes.

I diced the chicken thighs, chopped up the broccoli and white onion, putting them all into a large mixing bowl. I added the bag of frozen peppers, along with the seasoning packet that came in the kit, and a glug of oil. If I had to guess, it was about a quarter of a cup. I decided to save the teriyaki sauce pouch that was included for drizzling at the end. I mixed the seasonings and oil with the veggies until they were coated, and put them into the baking dish, topped with half the can of pineapples.

I put the dish into the oven uncovered. The frozen peppers hold a lot of liquid, so I wanted to make sure some of the moisture cooked off, and it didn’t turn into chicken teriyaki soup. If I had chosen to use fresh peppers, I would have likely covered it for about half the baking time. While the chicken was baking, I made some jasmine rice, took a moment to tidy up my kitchen, and set the table. After 40 minutes of baking, the chicken was done cooking, tender, piping hot, and smelling good.

I scooped the rice onto my plate, topped it with the chicken teriyaki, and drizzled the sauce that came in the pouch. My favorite part was all the colors on my plate, from the red and orange peppers to the blueish-purple plate — I think I had just about every color covered. I threw out the dinner kit package, to be sure to not compare my cooking to the work of the chefs at Betty Crocker. When I was done, I conveniently lifted the aluminum foil with what was left of the food, put it into a plastic Tupperware container, and put it in my fridge for leftovers.

I am delighted with my dinner, and after writing this story, I have successfully learned how to spell teriyaki!