Well I decided to try something new this week. Have you seen one of those commercials for a “family meal” from a fast food chain lately? I feel like they’re all over my TV these days. Promoting their value meal, feeding a family of 4 for only $20. I watched one the other day and thought about it and $20 really isn’t a good deal, even if the meal you were getting were delicious – which let’s face it, that one won’t be. I decided I would write some recipes that feed a family, of 4 that is, for $10 – because why not be twice as good as the fast food restaurants anyway! This is my first try; it was a lot easier than I thought it would be once I got started.
I decided to make a wintery dish since it’s so cold down here in south Texas – it was only 60 degrees today 🙂 Crispy chicken thighs and roasted root veggies sounded just right and I was able to come in… drumroll please… at $9.68 – woohoo! Not too shabby for a first try! Now what to do with that whopping $.32… so many options… stay tuned.
See! There’s the proof – $9.68 total for a meal for 4. Take that fast food – bam, pow, pop! And it turned out delicious. We loved every bite and since there were lots of leftovers (we’re a family of two after all) even Artie (the dog) got a few bites. There’s nothing that dog loves more than chicken, well maybe walks, and bones, and chasing the neighbor’s cat, and barking at the mailman, and sleeping in the front window, and really just about anything… but chicken though – that’s the best.
Part of the magic of this recipe is the potatoes. These babies serve as a platform for the chicken to roast on. So all the delicious chickeny juices drip down and flavor the potatoes with their yummy goodness. The rest of the veggies roast on their own in a separate pan and they are tasty and beautifully caramelized but the potatoes ended up the winner with their chicken flavor.
So one last note, before you go auditing my recipe, I did use 3 things which I did not purchase. Gasp! Shock! Boo! No, Wait! It was just 2 T. of oil and salt and pepper. I figured nearly every house has these ingredients in it sitting around and even if you didn’t the per serving price of these ingredients is super low! I purchased everything else but these and I think that’s pretty good.
One thing to note, there’s lots of peeling with the recipe as it’s made up of mostly root veggies. It took me 10 minutes to get everything prepped. So before you start out making your dinner maybe try to get one of the 3 other eaters of the meal for 4 to help you peel… after all it’s not fair for you to do all the work!
Crispy-Skin Chicken Thighs with Roasted Root Veggies Recipe
serves 4 (duh!)
Ingredients
2 lbs skin on, bone in chicken thighs (4 big ones or 8 small ones)
1 lbs carrots
1 lbs parsnips
1.5 lbs potatoes
1 lemon
1 bunch fresh herbs (tarragon, rosemary, parsley, thyme)
2 T. oil (I always use canola)
salt + pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Peel all those veggies then cut them into bite sized pieces. Try to make them as evenly sized as possible to get everything to cook at the same time.
Toss the parsnips, potatoes, and carrots with 1 1/2 T. oil and the zest from the lemon then season with salt and pepper. Place the parsnips and carrots on a sheet pan and the potatoes on a separate pan and put into the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
While the root veggies bake brush the chicken with the remaining 1/2 T. of oil and sear, skin side down, in a hot pan for 5 minutes until the skin on top is crispy. Squeeze the juice from the lemon on the the non-skin side of the chicken and spring with chopped herbs.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and set the chicken, skin side up, on the potatoes. Roast for 20 minutes. Turn the veggies and roast for 10 minutes more or until the chicken is cooked through (165 degrees) and the juices run clear.
Sprinkle the veggies with any remaining herbs and serve.
Leave a Reply