Another weekend, my cooking days, another chicken recipe.  Yes, we eat a lot of chicken in our household, red meat hardly gets a look-in.  Though from time to time a rare to medium beef steak can be seen, especially when number one son (and only) is home.  Saturday night, getting a little frosty as winter starts to make its chilly breath known, and thinking something heartwarming could be the choice.  Has to be easy though, tonight I don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  I have chicken thighs, lots of vegetables and decide to make Herb Roasted Chicken.  The recipe is from www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/herb_roasted_chicken_thighs_with_potatoes, which I chose because not only did the recipe seem to be just what i wanted, but I liked their picture. ( And it only takes one dish.)  Enticed by pictures of food……..what soulless human would you be if you weren’t??

A plateful of Herb Roasted Chicken, Roasted Balsamic Carrots and Basil Tomato (sans courgette)

Ingredients
Vinaigrette:

• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar – I didn’t have any so subbed Cabernet Sauvignon Verjuice which happened to be in the pantry asking to be used
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 to 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (less or more depending on how much you like mustard) definitely 2+ for us
• 1 teaspoon dried herbes de provence (can sub Italian seasoning or dry thyme or 1 Tbsp of fresh chopped herbs such as thyme or tarragon)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt – table salt for us
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Chicken:

• 2 pounds chicken thighs, bone in, skin-on, trimmed of excess fat – my chicken thighs were bone-out, skin-off, so I left the excess fat on – not that there was much
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt – table salt was fine
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 large Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and thinly sliced (1/8-inch thick or less)
• 1 cup sliced, peeled shallots (can sub thinly sliced onion that have soaked in water for 10 min) – I didn’t have shallots, so used onion. I have never soaked an onion in water before (oh ye of little experience) – and was astounded how cloudy the water was afterwards
• 3 to 4 whole garlic cloves, crushed and peeled – I didn’t crush, just cut into long slim slices
• Several whole sprigs of fresh tarragon or thyme (optional) – my garden gave me thyme and oregano
• More salt and pepper to taste

Method
1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Sprinkle all sides of chicken thighs with kosher salt and set aside. I didn’t do this – the less salt the better is my motto – and I don’t think it had any negative result on the end result
2 In a small bowl whisk together the red wine vinegar or substitute, olive oil, Dijon mustard, herbes de provence, 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
3 Spread a teaspoon of olive oil over the bottom of a large (9×13-inch) casserole dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with the thinly sliced potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Distribute the sliced shallots over the potatoes, and sprinkle again with a little salt and pepper.
4 Place the chicken thighs, skin-side up, on top of the shallots. (Or the side upwards where the skin would have been!). Wedge the garlic cloves between pieces of chicken. If you have fresh herbs such as tarragon or thyme, you can wedge them in along the border, between the chicken pieces and the dish. (I put the herbs everywhere the garlic was – not just along the sides of the dish). Whisk the vinaigrette again and pour it over the chicken, spreading it with your fingers to make sure the chicken is well coated.
5 Bake uncovered in a 375°F oven for 50 minutes, or until the thighs are well browned and cooked through. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Remember that without skin the chicken won’t quite have that same ‘browned’ look – but you should manage some colour.

ribboned courgette and basil tomatoes, ready to be added to the roasting carrots…..

I decided to serve roasted carrots, ribboned/roasted courgette and tomatoes with basil. The combination was delicious………