…. and it was great.
Hi everyone. I know it has been a long time since I have posted. It all started with a food sensitivity problem and morphed into life issues. It seemed that every week something got in my way. Then after a while I thought maybe I should just give it up instead of fighting it. But, I missed blogging so now I hope to be back. Already there are more issues. Our association is tenting our houses, so like I said, life issues….
We need to bag our food in special safety bags, and then we all have to move out for a few days. We have no choice. They threatened everyone with a court order if we don’t comply so I guess I will be out of commission again, but by now I have come to grips with it. It has forced me to clean out my cabinets and freezer, and the refrigerator. So it is a blessing in disguise. The electricity will be turned off so anything perishable will not be worth keeping. I have used up as much as possible and will take anything left worth taking to family.
So I have been buying sparingly at the market. I bought a small chicken at the market and a sweet potato, a couple tomatoes, and some arugula. I asked the butcher how much he would charge me to butterfly the chicken. He smiled, and said $50. I said I was sure he was worth every penny. He said no, really he would be glad to do it for free. He kept the backbone. Ordinarily I would have said I wanted it for stock, but like I said, I am cleaning out the freezer. So just to keep things simple I went home to make a sheet-pan dinner.
When I came home, I peeled the one sweet potato I was surprised that the skin was orange, but when I peeled it, it was white inside almost like a white potato. So I am thinking yam or do I have that mixed up. But, either way it was too late to do anything about it. So I cubed, seasoned, and brushed with olive oil. I spread the cubes out on a sheet-pan. I placed the butterflied chicken skin side down. I roasted it for twenty-five minutes and then turned it skin side up. I threw on a couple sliced shallots in with the potatoes. Sparingly I brushed the skin with a little oil and chopped rosemary, put it back in the oven for another twenty-five minutes.
While it was finishing I made a quick simple salad with arugula and diced tomatoes. I made a quick vinaigrette. I used white balsamic and a little olive oil to dress the salad. With arugula I like to dress the salad a little earlier than I would another more delicate lettuce.
I have avoided making sheet-pan dinners mainly because many times they are not attractive. I didn’t want it to look like a dog’s breakfast, but this was so simple and easy I am sure I will be making this again. I think this would be great company food since without the backbone it cooks so much faster.
Hope to see you all back here when I get back in my house. I will have all fresh food and no more old spices. When was the last time you checked the date on your spices? I have one word… embarrassing.
- 3.5 lb. chicken – backbone and keel bone removed.
- 1 or 2 sweet potato or yam – cube same size
- 1 large shallot slice thinly
- salt and pepper generously
- herbs of choice – I used rosemary
- a couple handfuls of arugula
- tomato
- vinaigrette
- olive oil for basting
- Miss en place ~ Gather ingredients
- Preheat oven to 425°F – 25 minutes skin-side down, then 25 minutes skin-side up.
- Cube potato small enough to get done at the same time as chicken.
- Place in a bowl and use just enough olive oil to coat potatoes.
- Place potatoes on the sheet-pan; place the chicken skin-side down for 25 minutes.
- Stir the potatoes and add in the thinly slice shallots.
- Wash and spin-dry arugula or green of choice.
- Dice a tomato
- Make your own vinaigrette (2:1 oil and vinegar, fine dice shallot, and a little Dijon)
- When you turn the chicken over, baste with olive oil and smear with herbs.
- Be sure to check for doneness - 165°.
Wini Moranville says
I’m all about the Sheet Pan Dinner! I’ve got one I’ve been making, with salmon, brussels sprouts, kale, and rainbow carrots that’s divine! I’ll post it soon.
So, obviously you and I are on the same page.
PS: Hope all is well with your food sensitivities!
Ms. Lemon says
Oh Wini, I can’t wait to see your salmon recipe. I loved how easy this all turned out.
Penny says
A fresh start is always good, but my, it sounds like you are going through a big disruption. I love sheet pan meals. I made one with pork chops, potatoes and asparagus. Love your butterflied chicken. So glad you are back blogging.
Ms. Lemon says
Penny, I have to check out your pork chop recipe. I love this all being on one pan.
Lorrie says
Nice to see a post from you again. I do the occasional sheet pan dinners. They are great for busy week nights. Hope the tenting et al goes well.
Ms. Lemon says
Hi Lorrie. I am thinking sheet-pan dinners will serve my guest well.
It looks like the tenting is going per schedule. I have had time to accept it is going to happen so I plan to make the best of it. Pajama party with my sister. 🙂
Kitty says
Hi Madonna, it was nice to see a post from you! I like sheet pan dinners for ease, and yours looks wonderful and fresh.
I’m sorry about all the issues you are having and I hope all goes well, and that you’ll be back in your home before long.
Susan says
So glad to see a post from you Madonna! Your sheet pan dinner looks delicious! I’m actually going out to buy a chicken for dinner tonight 😉 I’m so sorry to read about your food allergies and the tenting disruption. I’m sure they must have a very good reason to do it to make everyone clean out and move out 🙁 Hope you’re back home soon.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
I’m so happy to hear from you as you have certainly been missed. Your chicken looks delicious. It could be that your sweet potato was a white fleshed Boniato, very popular in the Caribbean islands. I often see it here in Florida. Hope all goes well, that you will be back in your home soon and feel in tiptop shape.
Ms. Lemon says
Thanks so much Karen. I am really happy with the sweet potato, I think next time I will pick several different kind, but the white one will diffidently be one of them. I wish I had been more careful with the photo to show how well they caramelized.
Laurie says
Your sheet pan dinner looks delicious! So sorry for you to be away from your home. Hope you can get back to doing what you love soon! Take care and thanks for sharing with us this week at Brag About It.`
Miz Helen says
It is so good to see you here and out and about in blog land. You have been missed and hope life will be getting better! What a great combination for your sheet pan recipe. This will be a dinner that we will love! Hope you have a fantastic weekend and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Confessions of a Plate Addict says
Hi Madonna! How nice to see a post from you! I am sorry you have had to deal with so many issues and I hope that after the tenting you have have a little normalcy. I have never seen a sweet potato with white flesh…interesting! Your dinner looks yummy and what a great way to cut down on pans to wash!
Ms. Lemon says
Hi Debbie,
I am sure everyone has issues, maybe/probably worse than mine, but still manage to post. I just wanted to be honest in what is going on in my life.
Those white sweet potatoes are delicious. I wished I had take more care with the photo to show how they caramelized so nicely. They were so good and with the shallots even better. And clean up is a real bonus. 🙂
And, very nice to hear from you.
John/Kitchen Riffs says
Good to see you post again! Although what a pain with the tenting. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. And I have some really old spices that need to be discarded, too. Anyway, sheet pan dinners are fun, aren’t they? This sounds like a good one! Thanks so much.
Ms. Lemon says
Hi John. The tenting went reasonably well and I have discarded my spices that were long overdue.
I really like this sheet pan dinner. Mostly I have avoided this type of cooking because they look like a hot mess, but in this case it was delicious if I must say so myself. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your input.
Joyce @ My Stay At Home Adventures says
This recipe looks amazing! Thank you for sharing it with us at FuntasticFriday!
Monique says
Poor you 🙁
I hope every day sees you better and better..