Chicken Roasted on Hearty Veggies

Chicken Roasted on Hearty Veggies

chicken pieces, bone in & skin on (I chose breasts with thigh/leg sections)

5 large carrots, peeled & cut chunky

6 golden potatoes, peel on & cut into large sections

1 yellow onion, cut chunky

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) 

cooking spray

1/2 cup boxed chicken broth

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp sweet paprika

2 of the following:

(fresh or 1 1/2 tsp of each dried:)

  1. dill & oregano ( my choice)

  2. sage & rosemary =traditional

  3. basil & oregano =Italian

Chicken Roasted On Hearty Veggies is a show stopper, which you can feel good about serving! I tried my hand at this pretty simple idea & it is now becoming a classic in our kitchen.  It's easy on the budget, low on prep time & presents itself just perfect! You can choose your favorite cuts of chicken, change up the veggies & choose your favorite herbs... that makes it so flexible & a good way to use up what you have in the pantry!

Here we go!  Rinse and pat dry the chicken, then salt & pepper both sides.  Now, sprinkle with all of the sweet paprika (only the chicken gets the paprika) and again with half of the herbs of your choice.  Now, place EVOO in a small dish & generously slather all sides of chicken.  (I like to use a plastic pastry brush.)  Set aside.

Next, line a large baking sheet with foil & spray cooking spray.  Prepare all veggies. (It's good to point out that you can totally change up your choice, try adding in sweet potatoes or asparagus for instance)  Then, place veggies in a Ziploc & add all but around 2 tbls EVOO, herbs, salt & pepper. (You should be adding at least 1/4 cup of EVOO) You can use the bag to lightly toss the veggies until coated, but a bowl would also be fine.  Slide all veggies out onto pan.

Next, lay your chicken pieces on top of the veggies, pour chicken broth into edge of pan, cover  tightly with foil (which we will remove during the baking process) and place in a 350 degree oven.  Cooking time will greatly vary, depending on the size of your pieces of chicken.  In the picture above, I used all very large pieces & even leg/thigh combos.  With this selection, my cooking time was 2 1/2 hours (removing foil after 1 hour & rebrushing top of chicken with remaining EVOO)  If you have smaller pieces, such as cut breasts & wings, the time can almost cut in half... it's your choice.  If you choose large pieces be prepared for it to take longer & if you use small pieces you can know that it will be much shorter. (Don't forget to rebrush the top of the chicken with EVOO when you remove the foil 1/2 way through roasting for that beautiful golden finish.) 

How do you know when it's done?  My best friend when cooking any meat is a kitchen thermometer (it's cheap & takes out the worry). When inserted into the thickest part of the meat, the thermometer should read 170 degrees. Done!  Let the chicken rest at least 10 minutes, then it's time to plate up this healthy & wonderful dish!

Believe it or not, as long as you let your meat cook through, it's hard to mess this one up!  It comes out of the oven looking like you worked for hours, when truly it's about a 30 minute prep time & you are back doing whatever you do best! Well, you do have to keep a watchful eye, but that's not so tough.