I spent all last weekend locked up in a convent (honestly—it was for a marriage prep course). The experience was rather peaceful and not nearly as painful as I had thought it might have been. But the food was awful. While I might have been nurturing my spirit, my body was astonished at the food these nuns were stuffing down on a regular basis. I got weak and dreamed of sneaking out (Apparently, I’m OK with giving up my livelihood and career, but if anyone takes away my food, I get pissed). Even the group snack that we brought, California raisins, were skipped for Oreos and potato chips. We took them back.

The first thing I did when I got back was flip through my stash of cookbooks to find something worth my time to eat that included those little shriveled grapes. I pinned down this recipe from the New York Times Chicken Cookbook—an all-star collection of chicken recipes from the paper’s favorite contributers. This one is from the legendary Craig Claiborne. While it takes about an hour to prep, cook, and bake, it has a relatively short number of ingredients. It’s not nearly as sweet as I had expected, either, being more earthy and complex. I am at peace again.