balsamic-rosemary chicken

when i lived in Rome, i used to eat a lot of pasta & pizza.

and no, i never got sick of it!  :)

however, when some of my roommates were feelin' the anti-pasta bug, we always made up a huge roaster pan full of super-yummy chicken & vegetables and it was always a winner!  and like ALL good italian-based recipes---- this dish won't send you to the store with a monstrously-long grocery list, is seriously good-for-you, and suuuper EASY!

 

balsamic-rosemary chicken

*NOTE: this recipe is GREAT for tailoring to what you have in your fridge, and also for how much/little you want to make.  i'm not going to give amounts because i think you get the gist of the meat-to-vegetable ratio from the above picture.. and i'm pretty certain you can just do what ya want in your own kitchen!!! ;)  if you don't like onion, leave it out! etc! :)

ingredients:

chicken (use whatever cut you like! for the pan above, i bought a split-breast, skin on)

potatoes

zucchini or summer squash

onion (sweet Spanish, Vidalia, red, whatever!)

sweet bell peppers (i always use a color combination!)

rosemary

thyme

parsley

 ***get fresh herbs if you can-- but if not, dried are fine! :)

salt & pepper

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

ridiculously easy instructions:

preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

chop all veggies into whatever sized pieces you like.

put veggies into pan (obviously if you're not making very much you could use an 8x8 little pan or you can go for the roaster-size like we used to bust out in our Roman apartment to feed all of us!) ;)

nestle meat in veggies

generously season with salt and pepper.

use as much thyme, parsley, and rosemary as you like (omit the other herbs if you want but rosemary is what really makes this dish special.) :)

drizzle olive oil over everything.

give everything a loving several splashes of that gorgeous balsamic vinegar.

cover pan & pop in oven for 20-30 minutes (shorter if smaller pan, longer if larger) :)

check on it -- leave uncovered for the last 5-15 minutes--- but keep an eye on it!-- and if it looks like it's drying out but obviously still isn't done, then cover it back up.

eat when chicken reaches 165-170 degrees on a meat thermometer and make sure potatoes are tender and veggies appear roasted and beautiful!

buon appetito! :)