Ranch Style Chicken

This chicken is sooooo good. It is easy enough for a quick weeknight meal, but also looks and tastes great enough that you could serve it to company. All of the flavors in this are a perfect union. So yummy! The original recipe came from The Pioneer Woman, but as usual, I made a few changes.

Ranch Style Chicken

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
8-12 strips thick cut bacon
cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
juice from1/2 a lemon
1/2 tsp salt

Make a marinade by mixing mustard, honey, lemon juice, and salt together in a large bowl. Pound chicken between two sheets of wax paper or in a large ziplock bag until chicken is about 3/4 inch thick. Place chicken in bowl with marinade, making sure each piece is covered. Cover bowl with lid or plastic wrap and  refrigerate for 1-3 hours. While chicken marinates, cook the bacon. When the bacon is done, reserve and set aside about 1/4 cup of the bacon grease. Clean out the skillet,  When chicken is done marinating, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the bacon grease in the skillet with a little canola oil added to it. When it is hot, remove the chicken from the marinade and cook until it is browned on each side, probably just a couple of minutes on each side. Remove chicken from skillet and put on a baking sheet (covered in foil if you want less mess to clean up).  Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is pretty much done. Remove from oven and place 2 pieces of bacon on each piece of chicken. Sprinkle a little bit of cheddar cheese over the bacon and place back in oven until bacon is sizzling and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Serve.