Roasted Chicken With Tomatoes and Olives

It has been a  fun challenge trying to figure out how to use our CSA goods each week. Our last basket included green beans, potatoes, two colorful bell peppers, beefsteak tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and two spaghetti squash. I'm still stumped on a spaghetti squash recipe that Josh will eat, but everything else will be put to good use. This evening I used a recipe from Real Simple that used up this week's supply of grape tomatoes and it was quite tasty!

Step 2. tomatoes, garlic, olives, thyme, lemon zest, and olive oil

Ingredients

• 1 lemon 
• 2 pints grape tomatoes 
• 1  head garlic, cloves separated
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved 
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 3-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces 
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 small loaf country bread, warmed (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425° F. Using a vegetable peeler, remove strips of zest from the lemon. (Reserve the lemon.)
2. In a large roasting pan, toss the tomatoes, garlic, olives, thyme, and lemon zest with 1 tablespoon of the oil.
3. Nestle the chicken, skin-side up, among the vegetables and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Season the chicken and vegetables with ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Roast until the chicken is cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes.
4. Remove the chicken from the hot roasting pan. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the roasting pan and add the wine. Gently stir, scraping up any bits stuck to the pan. Serve the chicken and vegetables with the pan juices and bread (if using). Recipe by Kate Merker,  March 2010

I tweaked the recipe to serve three. We would be on chicken overload if we had to eat a whole three pounder. I substituted three chicken breasts, 1/2 cup olives (I didn't bother halving them), four sliced cloves of garlic, almost two teaspoons of dried thyme. In addition to using a vegetable peeler for the lemon zest, I also used my kitchen sheers to cut the pieces even smaller.

I favor recipes that include wine. It gives me an excuse to drink fancy 'Two Buck Chuck' from Trader Joes.

vegetables after roasting

The next recipe in my tomato-centric meal also came from Real Simple. I made cheesy broiled tomatoes as a side dish.

Directions: Arrange the tomato slices in a single layer on a lightly oiled rimmed baking sheet. Season with ¼ teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Sprinkle the slices with the mozzarella and Parmesan. Broil until the cheese is bubbly and golden, 3 to 5 minutes.

I guessed on the salt and pepper and skipped the Parmesan. I broiled the tomatoes at 425 degrees for about seven minutes until the cheese turned a light brown/golden color.

Broiled cheesy tomatoes fresh out of the oven.

The finished product.

My first encounter with an olive boat occurred about six months ago at my cousin's bridal shower and I immediately knew I wanted one. I found this Italian beauty at a garage sale for $3. Josh said that it was neat, which is high praise in his book. 

linked: thewell, chef-n-training, delightfullydowling, nap-timecreations, 33shadesofgreen, fudgeripple, momscrazycooking, thekingscourt4, southernlovely, thischickcooks