Summer Time and The Cookin’ Is Easy
This is a favorite summertime (or anytime) trick, it’s about 10 minutes prep time from start to finish. Seriously, it’s just like magic! A perfectly delicious and beautiful summer meal made in no time, in one pan. This recipe is more a reminder of how easy preparing a really wonderful and simple dinner can be. It’s Lemon Rosemary Sheet Pan Dinner – Chicken with Roasted Zucchini and Onions, scattered with lots of wonderful fresh herbs. 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to bake and it’s on the table. That’s what Summers Perfect Dinner is for me.
Cooking everything together on a sheet pan is such a great idea. Summer is the time I want to spend less time around the oven and more time out enjoying the extended daylight hours. Lemon is my favorite ingredient and add some rosemary and I don’t know anyone that isn’t impressed! What are you going to do with all that extra time? You can probably find me having a glass of wine on the patio!
Herb Garden Love
The secret is, adding fresh herbs to your dishes will make everything taste better!
I love to garden in the summer. The truth is however, that the true R.O.I. on my crops is probably feeble. Water, fertilizer, organic bug and critter control, etc. But, the real money saver is in a herb garden. Buying fresh herbs at the grocery store is expensive! I love going out to my herb garden and cutting with careless abandon. I’m like a crazy, I can have whatever and as much as I want hacker in the herb garden. The healthier the herbs, the more hacking they enjoy.
If you don’t have the space or think you don’t have the green thumb for it, try a little garden right on your kitchen counter, under a sunny window. You really only need a few of your favorites to enjoy for the entire season.
Lemon Rosemary Sheet Pan Dinner
So, I actually lied when I said I can do this in one pan. I can never achieve that goal, I always use two. The main reason is that crowding the veggies together actually make them steam to cook rather than to get golden and caramelized. Take my advice and never overcrowd the pan. This recipe is so fast, start the timer now!
Cover two sheet pans with foil and preheat the oven to 400°.
Finely chop 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary.
Cut three regular size zucchini into pieces. I cut off the ends, cut them in half, then cut each half into three long pieces. Put them onto one of the pans, leaving plenty of room between pieces. Cut 2 regular size crook neck summer squashes into rounds. Set them onto the sheet pan.
Peel and slice 1 whole onion. Put the onion onto the second sheet pan, all towards one end.
Top the vegetables with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
The Chicken
Clean 2 whole breasts of chicken, remove the skin. Put plastic wrap on a meat only cutting board, then top with plastic. Pound to even, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. This will help the chicken to cook evenly.
Put the chicken on to the second sheet pan, leaving room between the chicken and the onions. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Zest 1 lemon and add the zest to the top of the breasts Squeeze 1 whole lemon over the chicken, then place the lemon around the chicken. Top each breast with a drizzle of olive oil, then sprinkle the chicken breasts with a 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon each of turmeric and paprika.
Bake – Lemon Rosemary Sheet Pan Dinner!
Sprinkle the chicken and the vegetables with the chopped rosemary. Top the chicken and vegetables with fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, oregano and marjoram around the chicken and vegetables. Cut a lemon into quarters and place around the vegetables and the chicken
Bake for 20 minutes. The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165° or you can check by cutting into the center. The meat should be fully cooked, no pink in the center!
I like to serve this over rice and topped with more fresh herbs and all the lemons that baked with the veggies and the chicken.
Enjoy!
Chicken - Lemon and Rosemary Chicken with Onions and Zucchini (Sheet Pan Dinner)
Ingredients
- 2 boneless breasts of chicken, skin removed
- 2 whole lemons
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons minced rosemary
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 1 large onion, sliced into rings, about 1/4 inch thick
- 3 zucchini
- 2 crook neck (summer) squash
- fresh herbs - thyme, rosemary, oregano,
Instructions
- Cover two sheet pans with foil and preheat the oven to 400°.
- Finely chop 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary.
- Cut three regular size zucchini in half, then quarters.
- Cut 2 crook neck (summer squash) into rounds, about 1/2 inch thick
- Put them onto one of the pans, leaving plenty of room between pieces.
- Peel and slice 1 whole onion.
- Put the onion onto the second sheet pan, all towards one end.
- Top the vegetables with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
- Clean 2 whole breasts of chicken, remove the skin.
- Put plastic wrap on a meat only cutting board, then top with plastic.
- Pound to even, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. (This will help the chicken to cook evenly)
- Put the chicken on to the second sheet pan, leaving room between the chicken and the onions. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Zest 1 lemon and add the zest to the top of the breasts Squeeze 1 whole lemon over the chicken, then place the lemon around the chicken.
- Top each breast with a drizzle of olive oil, then sprinkle the chicken breasts with a 1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon each of turmeric and paprika.
- Sprinkle the chicken and the vegetables with the chopped rosemary.
- Top the chicken and vegetables with fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, oregano and marjoram around the chicken and vegetables.
- Cut a lemon into quarters and place around the vegetables and the chicken
- Bake for 20 minutes. The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165° or you can check by cutting into the center. The meat should be fully cooked, no pink in the center!
- Karen Harris https://www.bittersaltysoursweet.com
