sheet pan – TasteFood

Chicken and Escarole Salad with Fingerling Potatoes

Flip the sheet pan dinner.

This simple chicken dish takes the ease of sheet pan cooking and upends it (literally) on top of a salad. Chicken breasts, fingerling potatoes, and lemon wedges are jumbled together on one pan for a simple tray bake. Once roasted, the ingredients are arranged over a bed of escarole leaves, while the collected cooking juices from the chicken and fresh lemon juice dress and gently wilt the salad leaves for a casual, homey meal.

As for the chicken, when it comes to flavor, say yes to bone-in, skin-on breast meat. Chicken breasts often get a bad rap for their dryness and lack of flavor. Leaving the bones and skin on the breast help to solve this problem. Not only do the bones add flavor to the meat while it cooks, they help to distribute the heat which prevents the meat from drying out. The skin also helps to keep the meat moist and tender by sealing in the juices; and, besides, who doesn’t like crispy skin?

Warm Chicken and Fingerling Salad with Escarole

Serves 4
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Kosher salt
4 large split bone-in, skin on chicken breasts, each about xx ounces
1 pound / 500g fingerling potatoes, thickly sliced crosswise, about 3/4-inch / 2 cm. thick
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large untreated lemon, washed, cut into 6 wedges
1 large head escarole, leaves rinsed and dried

1. Heat the oven to 375°F / 190°C

2. Whisk 1/4 cup / 60 ml olive oil, the garlic, lemon zest, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Rub the oil mixture all over the chicken and between the skin and breast meat.

3. Place the potatoes in a bowl. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.

4. Arrange the chicken, skin-side up, on a rimmed sheet pan lined with parchment. Scatter the potatoes and lemon wedges around the chicken.

5. Transfer to the oven and roast until the chicken and potatoes are golden brown and cooked through (the internal temperature of the chicken should register 165°F / 74°C ), about 40 minutes. Remove and let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Carve the chicken off the breast bones and thickly slice crosswise, about 1/2-inch thick.

6. While the chicken is resting, place the escarole in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper and toss to coat. Spread the leaves on a serving platter.

7. Arrange the chicken over the escarole. Scatter the potatoes around the chicken. Drizzle any pan juices over the chicken and potatoes. Squeeze the juice of 1 to 2 lemon wedges over the salad. Serve with the remaining wedges.

Chicken, gluten-free, Main Course, one-pot

Sheet Pan Chicken with Wild Mushroooms and Cippolini Onions

Featuredby Lynda Balslev

Sheet Pan Dinners are Sheet Pan Comfort:

Sheet Pan Comfort: Roasted Chicken Thighs with Onions and Wild Mushrooms

Bone-in chicken thighs are perfect for sheet pan cooking. They are almost impossible to overcook, and the succulent meat does not dry out, allowing the time needed to tenderize and brown additional ingredients, such as sturdy root vegetables, sweet onions, and earthy mushrooms. In this recipe I use cipollini onions. Cipollini onions are small, flattened red and yellow onions. They are sweeter and milder than their larger yellow, red, and white brethren, making them great for roasting and caramelizing. Mushrooms are also a key ingredient this dish. As they roast, their juices impart a rich umami flavor to the pan juices. Any mushroom will work, but try to choose a selection of wild mushrooms, if possible. I used a mix of shiitake, beech, king trumpet, and crimini mushrooms in this recipe. Be sure to cut them into large bite-size pieces of similar size.

Sheet Pan Chicken with Wild Mushrooms and Onions

Serves 4
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes, plus marinating time

Marinade
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 chicken thighs, bone-in with skin
1 pound red or white cipollini onions, peeled, halved crosswise
3/4 pound assorted wild mushrooms (or crimini mushrooms)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 thyme sprigs, plus more for garnish
3 rosemary sprigs, plus more for garnish

1. Whisk the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken and turn to thoroughly coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
2. Heat the oven to 375°F.
3. Combine the onions, mushrooms, and garlic in a large bowl. Drizzle with the oil, season with the salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Spread the vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet. Nestle the chicken thighs, skin-side up, among the vegetables. Scatter the thyme and rosemary sprigs around the pan.
4. Roast in the oven until the chicken is cooked through (a meat thermometer will register 165°F when inserted in the thickest part not touching the bone), about 35 minutes. If the skin is not golden yet, turn on the oven broiler and continue to cook until the skin is golden brown, 1 to 3 minutes more.
5. Remove from the oven and discard the thyme and rosemary sprigs. Taste the mushrooms and season with additional salt if desired. Serve warm with the pan juices and fresh thyme or rosemary for garnish.

Chicken, Condiment, gluten-free, Main Course, Marinades, Poultry

Sheet Pan Chermoula Chicken and Cauliflower with Smoky Red Pepper Sauce

Featuredby Lynda Balslev

Winner Winner Chicken (Sheet Pan) Dinner:

You’ve probably heard of sheet pan dinners. The term may be trendy, but the concept is not. It simply means arranging all of your dinner components on a rimmed baking sheet, coating them with oil and seasoning, then roasting in the oven – and, voilà, you have a complete dinner on a tray. While the emphasis is certainly on ease of preparation, with the right ingredients this cooking method ensures maximum flavor. Oven roasting coaxes out the flavors of vegetables and meats and is a sure-fire (no pun intended) way to cook to crispy, golden perfection. The key to building great flavor is the ingredients you use to coat and bind the dish. They can be as basic as olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper, or more elaborate with aromatic marinades, spices, herbs, and citrus.

This recipe combines two ingredients that are well suited for roasting: bone-in chicken thighs and romanesco, a green brassica, which looks like a cone-headed cauliflower. Importantly, they both require a similar amount of cooking time, so they can happily team up on a baking sheet without one ingredient over-cooking while the other keeps on roasting. (You can also use white cauliflower in this recipe.) A potent, herbaceous chermoula sauce, robust with garlic, lemon, and spices, coats the whole lot and drives in flavor.

The finishing touch to this recipe – not required, but recommended – is a smoky red pepper sauce for swiping and drizzling. It’s inspired by Spanish romesco sauce (not to be confused with the romanesco vegetable!) and traditionally consists of roasted tomatoes and ground almonds or hazelnuts. This smoother rendition uses roasted red peppers to create a sweet and smoky condiment.

Chermoula Chicken and Cauliflower Sheet Pan Dinner

Active time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, plus marinating time
Serves 4

Chermoula Sauce:
1 1/2 cups Italian parsley leaves and tender sprigs
1 1/2 cups cilantro leaves and tender sprigs
1 cup fresh mint leaves
Juice and finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 cup olive oil

8 bone-in chicken thighs with skin

Red Pepper Sauce:
2 jarred roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed, coarsely chopped
1 red jalapeno pepper, seeds and membranes removed (optional), coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 medium head romanesco (or white cauliflower)
Cilantro sprigs for garnish
Lemon wedges for serving

1. Combine all of the chermoula ingredients, except the oil, in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to chop. Add the oil and pulse to blend. The chermoula should have a runny salsa consistency. If too thick, add more oil to loosen.
2. Place the chicken in a large bowl. Pour in the chermoula and stir to thoroughly coat, rubbing the marinade between the skin and meat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting.
3. Combine all of the red pepper sauce ingredients in the cleaned bowl of a food processor and process to blend. Taste for seasoning. (The sauce may be prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)
4. Heat the oven to 375°F.
5. Cut the cauliflower from crown to stem in 3/4-inch slices. Cut out the cores and cut the cores into bite-size chunks. (The cores are sweet and edible, so don’t discard them.)
6. Remove the chicken from the marinade and arrange, skin-side up, on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment. Brush the cauliflower steaks and pieces on all sides with the residual marinade and arrange around the chicken. Season everything with salt and black pepper.
7. Transfer the tray to the oven and roast until the romanesco is tender and the chicken is golden brown and cooked through (it should register 165°F when a meat thermometer is inserted into the thickest part closest to the bone), about 30 minutes.
8. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with lemon wedges.