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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Recipe Referal

Some of my best recipes come from referrals.  Either I taste something at a party and ask for the recipe, or someone tells me about a recipe that they tried and liked.  This weeks recipe is one of those referrals.  Carol, a co-worker at the circulation desk, told me about a recipe from Ellie Krieger's cookbook "The Food You Crave".


The recipe was for Tuscan Roasted Chicken and Vegetables, and I agree with her it was a really good recipe.  I had most of the ingredients at home, I only had to buy a bulb of fennel and a lemon.

The recipe went together very easily.  Cut up your veggies and put them into a sprayed baking pan and season.


Top the veggies with your skinless chicken breasts.






Mix together lemon juice and zest, oil, garlic, salt and pepper and rub the tops of the chicken with this mixture.



Bake for 30 minutes and then mix the veggies and sprinkle the rosemary over everything, bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes until the chicken is done.



I did use less of the veggies than the recipe called for because I knew that I would be the only one eating them.  My family doesn't know what they are missing.  These veggies were delicious and I was more than happy to not share. This meal was great as leftovers also.

And speaking of leftovers, be sure to check out the next blog to find out what I did with my leftover chicken and the scraps that I had left when I cleaned the chicken.

Tuscan Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

6 Roma tomatoes (about 1 pound)
3 medium zucchini (about 1/2 pound each)
1 bulb fennel
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 bone-in chicken breast halves (about 2 1/2 pounds), skin removed
4 cloves garlic, finely minced (about 4 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the tomatoes lengthwise into quarters and remove the seeds.  Trim the zucchini and cut it in half crosswise.  Then cut each piece in half lengthwise twice if the piece is thin and three times if it is thicker, so that the pieces are relatively uniform.

Remove the outermost layer of fennel bulb and discard.  Cut the bulb in half sio that each half retains part of the stem end.  Cut each half into 8 thin wedges so each wedge is held together by a little piece of stem.

Put the vegetables in a large baking dish.  toss them with 2 tablespoons of oil and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt.  Arrange the chcken pieces in the pan with the vegetables.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt, the garlic, and lemon zest and juice.  Rub the mixture into the chicken in the pan.  Season with a few turns of pepper.  Roast for 30 minute, then give the vegetables a stir and add the rosemary.  Return to the oven and roast until the chicken is just cooked all the way through and the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, 20 to 30 minutes more.