Buttermilk Baked Chicken: Healthy Southern Cookin', Y'all

I happened to catch an episode of Down Home with the Neelys on Food Network and saw them make a buttermilk baked chicken recipe and a roasted broccoli and feta salad, so I decided to make tonight Southern cooking night and try both recipes.

The broccoli salad was okay -- I prefer Melissa D'Arabian's parmesean roasted broccoli, myself -- but the chicken was delicious. I put it in the buttermilk marinade around 1:00 after Ben and I got home from the grocery store (where his cheeks were repeatedly pinched by gray-haired shoppers). When I baked it off at 6:00, it was tender and flavorful.

I modified the recipe a bit, so I'll include the original recipe with my modifications in parentheses.

Ingredients
2 cups buttermilk
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon hot sauce (I left this out, since I hate tabasco)
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
5 sprigs fresh thyme (I used lemon thyme from my planter on the porch)
3 cloves garlic, smashed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 (3 pound) chicken cut into 8 pieces, rinsed and patted dry (I used 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts instead, since I hate having to cut chicken off the bone for Jack)

2 cups crushed corn flakes
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Fit a sheet tray with a wire rack and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix together buttermilk, lemon juice, hot sauce, onion, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. Add chicken and coat with mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 3 hours or up 12 hours.

Mix corn flakes, Parmesan cheese, and thyme together. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove chicken from the marinade, letting the excess drip off, and dredge through the corn flake-Parmesan mixture, pressing to help it adhere.

Place on the wire rack-fitted sheet tray and bake for 45 minutes until golden and crisp. (Since I was making boneless chicken breasts, I only cooked them for 35 minutes instead and they were perfect.)

*****
I was able to cook the roasted broccoli salad right on the same cookie sheet as the chicken, so I'll include that recipe too, since it was ridiculously easy and relatively tasty.

Ingredients
2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 ounces baby arugula (about 3 large handfuls)
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Add the broccoli florets and cherry tomatoes to a rimmed sheet tray. Drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat completely. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until the broccoli is tender and lightly golden brown.

Toss with arugula and crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss. Serve immediately.