Chicken on a Bed of Vegetables |
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Prep Time: 25 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Minutes |
Ready In: 26 Minutes Servings: 8 |
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Created for RSC #15. (POSTSCRIPT: I don't understand the fairly critical reviews, as I make this at least once a week with different veggies! So what you'll read now is an edit of the original recipe!) A healthy, easy, all-in-one family meal or casual dinner for guests. Garlic is roasted separately, so everyone has a choice whether they want garlic paste on their serving or not! Quick to assemble, and totally delicious! This recipe makes a generous meal, and a crisp salad would be nice with it. (It's the meal I make when I am really very busy, and want to shove a healthy yet easy dinner into the oven! Often, I use a chicken flattie on top of the veggies - a spatchcocked chicken - or I butterfly the chicken myself. In my convection oven it is almost always perfectly done within 1 hour - but do test!!) Ingredients:
6 -8 chicken thighs, bone-in (skin on or skinless) |
1 1/2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard (or any good mustard like dijon) |
1 teaspoon brown sugar |
2 tablespoons olive oil (plus extra, see directions) |
2 tablespoons dry sherry |
1/4 cup water |
4 potatoes, medium to large, peeled and sliced thinly |
1 lb button mushroom, cleaned and halved (500g) |
1 cup parsley, snipped and loosely measured |
1 lb green beans, topped and finely chopped (can use frozen, chopped) |
1 onion, large, peeled and finely chopped |
1 bulb of garlic (only outer papery skin removed) |
seasoning salt, of your choice |
3 -5 ml coarse black pepper |
6 -8 tablespoons breadcrumbs (such as panko) |
Directions:
1. Prepare the vegetables first, as described above. Use a large, roomy oven dish, and grease well. I prefer butter to grease with. Whether you use skinless or skin-on thighs is your choice, but use bone-in and skin-on for more flavour.
2. Preheat oven to 350 deg F/ 180 deg Celsius.
3. In a bowl whisk together the mustard, sugar, olive oil, sherry and water. (Don't skimp on the olive oil, rather use more than 2 T, especially if using skinless thighs, as you don't want the meat to dry out).
4. Layer the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the dish, then season lightly with seasoning salt and some black pepper. Scatter over the mushrooms and parsley, and season very lightly again.
5. Then layer over the chopped green beans. They should be sliced thinly into rounds, and really, fresh is best here. I find frozen beans take longer to cook. Lastly: layer over the chopped onion. Season lightly.
6. Arrange the chicken thighs in one layer on top of the veggies. Spoon the sauce evenly over the thighs, season lightly on top with seasoning salt and pepper, and sprinkle about 1 tablespoon crumbs evenly over each thigh.
7. Cut off just the very top off the garlic bulb, so most of the tops of the cloves are exposed. Put this in the centre of the dish, and spoon a teaspoon of olive oil over the bulb.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour or slightly more, open. (If using skinless thighs, cover the dish with foil for the 1st half of baking time).
9. To test, stick a fork through the veggies underneath the chicken. If it goes through with no resistance, the dish is done.
10. Use scissors or a sharp knife to slit the skin of the roast garlic cloves, then squeeze the paste over each crispy thigh and spread it with a knife. Sinfully delicious! Save the leftover roast garlic, wrapped, to eat on toast.
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