One-Pan Roasted Chicken and Veggies
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Here's one for all of us who are at times (or always) strapped for time and energy when dinner time rolls around. I thought about putting this over on my Matters and Musings page because I've been doing a series there on quick and easy meals, but because there is actually a bit of chopping involved, I thought I'd keep it here on the main page. But that doesn't mean it doesn't fall into that category because I'm here to tell you I've made this numerous times when I had neither much time and/or little ambition as the dinner hour approached, and this chicken and veggie roast came through to save the day.
Even without prior planning, it doesn't take much effort to roughly chop whatever veggies you have in the fridge and some chicken thighs and douse it all in a little olive oil and lemon juice and whatever herbs you choose, throw it all on a sheet pan and roast for about 30 minutes and dinner's on.
But with a little planning, much of the work can be done the night before or the morning of, so that just before dinner the hardest thing you'll have to do is preheat the oven.
The recipe comes to us by way of Laura Keogh and Ceci Marsh's cookbook, How to Feed A Family. I like their style. I mean, we all want to be cooking (and eating) food that's not only good for you, but food that's simple, even rustic in its preparation, and yet super scrumptious.
And that's what we have here, people. Nothing flashy. Nothing glitzy. Just wholesome, honest, good for you food. We like that around here. You can certainly customize this to your own tastes. In addition to the chicken thighs (not breasts), I like to throw in a combination of zucchini, red pepper, red onion, little creamer potatoes and cherry tomatoes (or whatever tomatoes I have). I also use my Tuscan Herb Salt to season the marinade. But like I said, you can use whatever vegetables you've got handy and whatever combination of herbs and spices that suits the moment. The only other thing you'll need is a rimmed sheet pan. Oh, and an oven. And about 30 minutes. Here's the recipe...
One-Pan Chicken and Veggie Roast
Click here for a printable recipe
This is such an easy, rustic meal that can be thrown together when time and energy are at a minimum. Feel free to customize the herbs and veggies to meet your own needs or the contents of your fridge. You can do all of the prep work the night before and place it in a Ziploc bag or a bowl with the marinade and then just throw it all on a sheet pan and roast come dinner time.
The recipe calls for a 30 minute roasting time, but I like to take it more towards 40 minutes. This gives the chicken and veggies more time to develop caramlization and flavor, but the downside is less pan juice, although there's still enough to keep it moist. Oh, and lately I’ve been substituting cauliflower for the potatoes and that’s become a thing here.
Recipe adapted from How To Feed a Family
Yields: 4 servings
¼ cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon Tuscan Herb Salt *
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 ½ lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
1 pound red creamer or Yukon gold potatoes, chunked (or sub cauliflower florets)
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 red onion, cut into chunks
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
½ pint cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
Crumbled feta cheese for serving
*Or substitute the equivalent amount of dried rosemary, oregano and sage mixed with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and herbs, salt and pepper.
Place the chicken in a bowl (or Ziploc bag) and pour half of the oil mixture on top and mix to coat well. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a large, rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
Place the cut up veggies (except the tomatoes) on the sheet pan and pour the remaining oil mixture on top. Mix together to coat the veggies, spreading them evenly and then add the chicken to the pan. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and give everything another good sprinkle of salt and pepper and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and scatter the tomatoes over the top. Return the pan to the oven and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken is beginning to brown and the veggies are tender. I like to serve this in shallow bowls, sprinkled with crumbled feta cheese and some crusty bread to sop up the pan juices.
