Goat Cheese Stuffed Lemon Chicken & Vegetables | Sheet Pan Supper

 

I love this system for weeknight dinners.  This dinner took me 5 minutes to prepare - I sliced the potatoes and radishes in half, then I put some goat cheese under the skin of the chicken.  I drizzled everything with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of salt.  It went in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes (except for the asparagus, I actually took it off before baking and put it back in for the last 10 minutes so it didn't get burnt to a crisp).  While it cooked, I cleaned up the cutting board, unloaded the dishwasher, put the groceries away and set the table.  All of this started at 5:30 immediately after we'd gone to the grocery store.  By 6:00 dinner was ready, the kitchen had already been cleaned up (during the 30 min cook time) and Mike walked in the door for dinner.

I used two Large Baking Sheets ($10) with Parchment Paper ($10) you can find in my store, here >

This isn't the dinner anyone would request for their birthday, and it is definitely on the list of "lighter" dinners I make, but it is very yummy.  Mike LOVED this dinner.  He is always in the market for fresher, healthier, and simpler dinners without so many sauces and seasonings.  The goat cheese cooked under the skin of the chicken is just enough of an indulgence to make it satisfying.  I actually prepared two identical pans (4 chicken breasts) and baked them at the same time so we had enough for lunch leftovers the next day.    

Goat Cheese Stuffed Lemon Chicken & Vegetables on a Sheet Pan

2-4 chicken breasts, bone-in skin on
goat cheese
asparagus*
colorful radishes
small or fingerling potatoes
green onions
olive oil
lemon
sea salt
3 tablespoons of butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line Large Baking Sheets with Parchment Paper ($10),  Place chicken breasts on the pan, place a generous slice of goat cheese underneath the skin of each.  Slice potatoes in half.  Trim asparagus ends.  Slice green onions in half, slice radishes in half.  Arrange all on baking sheet - except asparagus.  I put the asparagus on for the last ten minutes of baking so it doesn't get burnt to a crisp.  Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze lemon and sprinkle salt all over the entire pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Add asparagus and bake all until chicken is 145 degrees.  Remove from oven.  Place another tablespoon of butter on each chicken breast.  Let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.  Pour juices out of pan and pour onto chicken and potatoes on plates.

I love a colorful dinner!  Emma loved these radishes - when roasted they tasted like carrots and obviously the color palette is amazing.

Sorry, closeup photos of raw chicken isn't always the best, but I wanted to show you how easy it is to slide a slice of goat cheese under the skin of a bone-in, skin-on chicken breast.

 Are you interested in more sheet pan dinner ideas?  I love that minimal dishes/pots/pans are required and that cleanup is so simple.  It is also a fun challenge to see what I can come up with on just a sheet pan!

Chicken Piccata with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes & Angel Hair

Chicken Piccata with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes & Angel Hair

We have this for dinner probably about once a week - one of everyone's favorites.  It is one of my very favorites because it takes 20 minutes to make (seriously - I timed myself!) and everyone in our family loves it.  It is fairly healthy with lots of spinach, chicken and tomatoes and not too much pasta.  It also feels light, but still filling and very flavorful.  I love that I can stop by the store and have this on the table so quickly and everyone is excited about dinner.

I haven't done a new dinner recipe in a while - a really long time.  I think I've fallen into the same trap of most moms... feeding people every single day.  Emma's tastes are simpler than ours, and though she is a fairly good eater, she doesn't want to try something new every night and, frankly, neither do I.  We take comfort in our favorites - pasta, tacos, burgers, roasted chicken, soup, etc.  So, when I realized this "favorite" of ours wasn't on the blog, I thought it was a good one to add.

I've resolved not to cook quite as much this year - ha!  We eat at home probably 5-6 night a week, which is a lot.  And while I still love cooking, I find myself a burnt out when I have extra time to make something fun, because I've spent the entire week making basic simple kid-friendly dinners.  My goal is to do more like 4 nights a week at home, 1 night easy takeout (pizza, sushi...) and two nights out.  

I would say I'm also going to "resolve" to do more recipe posts, but no promises ; )   It is always my intention, but creating new products for the store has become my new job (instead of writing blog posts), and after working all day, I don't always want to share what we have for dinner.  Like you, I want to turn off "work" and just enjoy family time.  I do miss writing and sharing our days here.  I found it therapeutic, almost, to create this little utopia of living well.  Emma has become very interested in baking lately and has really started to experiment in the kitchen.  I'm not talking cake mixes and decorating cupcakes, but things like pate a choux and sponge cakes thanks to our new favorite show, The British Baking Show.  So, you can look forward to new inspiration from that : )

With all of that said, the store and the School House has become so much more streamlined than it has been in the past.  My helpers are so good at taking responsibility off of my shoulders that I'm finding myself with more free time, so I do hope to be here more often to share.     I also have big garden plans I'm already working on for this spring.  The best part of being a gardener is dreaming and planning in the winter!

Chicken Piccata with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes & Angel Hair

4 chicken breasts (about 1 medium per person)
Garlic Salt
2/3 pounds of angel hair pasta
Sea Salt
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup of capers
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
5 oz box of baby spinach
6 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of cream



Start a pot of salted water to boil.  When water boils, add pasta and cook for 2-3 minutes, then strain and give a quick rinse with cold water.*

*We've all been taught to not rinse pasta lately and to put it directly into the sauce, so it can absorb the sauce and flavor.   However, I've learned that with this super light sauce, it seems to all disappear into the pasta and then there is nothing to enjoy with the chicken.  So, when I started rinsing with cold water, this recipe became so much better, but do what you want : )



Butterfly the chicken breasts by slicing them down the side, leaving the center intact.  Our grocery store does this for me.

Generously sprinkle garlic salt on one both sides of the chicken breasts.  In a saute pan, heat the olive oil.  After about 1 minute, add the chicken.  Cook on medium for about 6-8 minutes on each side, or until they are cooked all the way through.





Add the butter, cream and lemon juice the the saute pan.  Add the spinach, tomatoes and capers.



Toss everything together until the spinach cooks and wilts down - it can be easier to take the chicken out during this part if your pan is too full.  



Add the pasta and toss it all together, making sure the pasta gets reheated from the sauce.  Taste for seasoning - add more butter or lemon, if needed.

Spring Bucatini Pasta | Asparagus, Spinach, Mushrooms & Chicken in a Lemon Cream

You all know that I love pasta so much.  I try to limit ourselves to just a couple of a pasta dinners per week.  One is usually a red sauce - spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parm, ragu or bolognese - and one is usually a buttery lemon sauce with chicken or shrimp.  I'm the only one in our family that goes crazy for shrimp, so usually it is chicken.  Emma absolutely loves anything with lemon and chicken, so this dinner was a big hit.  We'll do variations on this all year long, but this one felt particularly springy.  

I always try to add some green veggies for dinner and being seasonal is even better.  The asparagus, mushrooms and spinach help stretch the pasta and give this so much more nutritional heft and flavor and make this feel like spring.  I used bucatini, which is a spaghetti shape but that has a hole down the center, like a tube.  It makes it sort of extra chewy and thick.  You could use any shape - bowtie, penne, angel hair or linguine.  

Lemon Cream sauce may seem complex, but it is just butter, lemon juice and cream.  The prep for the chicken is very simple - just olive oil and garlic salt then grilled or roasted in the oven.   Could not be easier.   I top the entire thing with thick slices of burrata cheese to really put it over the top.  You can stir the cold burrata into the warm lemon-y cream if you want, but I sort of like to savor it little by little with each bite.

Did you notice the new blue check and the green block print linens?  The new collection (Summer Garden) will launch on Thursday morning.

Spring Bucatini Pasta
Asparagus, Spinach, Mushrooms & Chicken in a Lemon Cream

4 small chicken breasts
olive oil
garlic salt
....
1 pound of pasta (bucatini)
....
4 tablespoons of butter
1 pound of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
1 clove of garlic thinly sliced
2 big handfuls of spinach
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup of cream
sea salt
....
burrata cheese (or fresh mozzarella or parmesan)

Chicken :
Preheat the grill or oven.  Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil, then sprinkle with garlic salt.  Grill for 5 minutes on each side or roast for 18-20 minutes until meat thermometer reads 140 degrees.  Let rest covered, then slice just before serving.

Cook Pasta* :
Cook pasta in salted boiling water for less than two minutes than directed on the package.  You want it to be slightly chewy.  ***Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water to use in the sauce.

  Veggies & Sauce : 

Melt the butter on low in a large sauce or saute pan (it should be large enough to hold all of the pasta, too).  Cook asparagus on medium for about 5 minutes until tender.  Add mushrooms and continue cooking until cooked through.  Add sliced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Reduce heat to low, then squeeze in lemon juice and stir in cream.  Add sea salt to taste.  Add a little bit of the reserved pasta water, then let simmer until bubbling lightly.  Add spinach and toss it with sauce.

When the pasta is ready add it directly from the boiling water to the sauce with tongs.  Toss with the sauce and let it simmer on low for a minute or two.  Add more pasta water if the sauce seems to thick.  Remove from the heat and add sliced chicken and thick slices of burrata.  Top with parmesan if you'd like.

This is how the sauce looks before the spinach.

You can add lots and lots of spinach - it cooks down to nothing!

Allowing the pasta to cook in the sauce a little helps it to absorb the flavors.

yum!!  this was so, so good.

Oh, that burrata.

This is what dinner typically looks like for us - sort of one pot, but not really.  I always love to hear what you're making for dinner, too... gives me new ideas from the typical spaghetti, tacos, burgers, pizza rotation : )

Pretty Chicken Pot Pie | Easy Weeknight Dinner

The biggest change at home we've experienced since Emma has started Kindergarten is that she was so exhausted when she got home that she wasn't interested in helping with dinner.  For the first couple of weeks, I was okay with it - she needed quiet downtime just playing (or watching a show...).  However, our time in the kitchen together is my favorite time, so I've been thinking of more ways to get her excited about cooking again.

I know when you are 5 that new friends, learning to read, soccer, ballet, etc. all of a sudden seems much cooler and more important than helping your Mom, but I wanted to be careful that we didn't lose this special time we spend together.  So, we've been doing more fun things in the kitchen like adding mini leaf cut-outs (using the new Mini Leaf Cutters, $8 for 6 in my store) to our Chicken Pie Pies, and we've also been working on decorating cakes.  These activities have lit a new fire for her and she is eager to join me in the kitchen again.

This is my basic Chicken Pot Pie recipe, only dressed up with some cut outs on the top : ). For some shortcuts, buy a rotisserie chicken, use frozen carrots and store bought pie dough - I do these all of the time and it is just as delicious.   Our entire family loves this dinner.  I make a double batch and one goes in the freezer for an easy dinner after soccer : )

Mini Leaf Cutters, $8

Set of 6

The Mini Leaf Cutters are new to my Harvest Collection and will make so many things cute this fall : )

Chicken Pot Pie

(makes 1 pie, I usually double the recipe)

2 chicken breasts, split with bone and skin on

4 carrots, 1-inch dice

8 small red potatoes, 1-inch dice

2 tbs of olive oil

1 tsp of sea salt

1/2 tsp of pepper

4 tbs of butter

4 tbs of flour

1/2 cup of chicken stock

1/2 cup of half-and-half

1 cup of frozen peas
....

Pie Crust Recipe, here >

Pie Crust Ingredients needed (for making 2 tops) : 

18 tablespoons cold butter (2 sticks + 2 tablespoons)
3 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon salt 
2 tablespoons sugar 
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

I made the filling, while Emma worked on the pie crust.

For the filling :

Step 1 : Roast the Chicken & Vegetables

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Start by placing the chicken breasts on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, then salt & pepper.  On another sheet pan, place the carrots and potatoes and also drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, then toss to coat.  Roast them in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  The cooking time may vary depending on thickness of the chicken breast.

*Baking Sheets : You can find my favorite Baking Sheets in regular and small sizes here.  They work great paired with parchment paper - saves food from sticking and makes clean up so easy.

Step 2 : Make the Cream Sauce

In a saucepan, melt butter on medium-low heat stir in flour, whisking until smooth.  Let the flour and butter cook for about 1 minute.  Whisk in chicken stock and continue to whisk over low heat until smooth.

Add in the half-and-half.  Whisk until smooth.  Cook over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes until thick and bubbly - whisk constantly, or at lease every minute to keep it from burning on the bottom.  When it is thick, turn off the heat.

Step 3 : Combine

When the vegetables and chicken have finished roasting, let them cool for 3-5 minutes.  Remove the skin and bones from the chicken and chop it up into 1-inch cubes.  Add the chicken, carrots and potatoes into the cream sauce.  Add the peas.  Pour the mixture into a pie plate or other oven proof dish.

The pie crust is made in the food processor and comes together so quickly.  Pie Crust Recipe, here >

Store Bought Dough works really great, too, especially or the cutouts.  It seems to be more sturdy.

Roll the cut out dough onto a rolling pin, being careful not letting it stretch too much and lose its shape.

 

Brush them with beaten egg to give them a really pretty shine, then bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until golden and bubbly.

 

Here are other ways I've used the Mini Leaf Cutters :

Pecan Tart with Maple Leaf border >

I have so many ideas for these : ). Hope this makes it on your list for the week!

 Mini Leaf Cutters, $8

Set of 6

Baking Sheets

Parchment Paper

Skillet Roasted Lemon Chicken | Barefoot Contessa Cooking for Jeffery

Like most Januarys, I'm ready to start trying some new recipes and looking for new inspiration.  During the holidays, we crave those comfort, nostalgic meals that we mix into our December rotation.  When January rolls around, I can't wait to freshen things up, spend some time in the kitchen and start experimenting again.  Laurie surprised me with the new Barefoot Contessa cookbook the day it came out and I've dog-eared many pages that I've been itching to try.  

Her newest version of Roasted Chicken did not disappoint.  The method is using a cast iron skillet, lining the bottom with lemon and onion slices, then placing the chicken on top and roast it in the oven.  Midway through, add white wine to the pan and continue roasting.  The lemons and onions in the bottom of the pan were transformed during cooking in the juices that dripped on them from above.  Completely delectable - and healthy dinner.

The Barefoot Contessa's Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken (original recipe here)

Of course, I altered the recipe a bit from the original to fit our tastes and what I had on hand.  I don't really like dissecting a whole chicken, so I used two bone-in/skin-on breasts and thighs.  She calls for whole fennel seeds to rub on before roasting which Mike does not care for (at all!), so I left out.   However, I also made her Seafood Stew a couple of days later and which called for sauteed fresh fennel, which we both loved.  My thyme plant had the smallest, most minuscule bit on it, so I used what I could.  My cast iron skillet is not large enough, so I used my cast iron dutch oven (staub) and it worked perfectly.

I made Colorful Roasted Carrots to accompany, one of Emma's favorites.

And Braised Green Beans.

And Mashed Potatoes (insert cheesy face emoji).  I put a touch of goat cheese in my classic recipe and it added a terrific bite.  Emma barely noticed - but she did.  She said she could tolerate.

It was quite a spread for a Monday night dinner.

 My best helper!  I can't wait for you to try this recipe - I'm telling you, it was so easy and de-lish.