At this point in the summer, you have to get creative with zucchini, especially when tomatoes finally become wonderful. This was from the NY Times and looked like a good way to use a monster zucchini and some small ones we had from our CSA. Serves 2-3:
Sheet Pan Chicken with Zucchini
- 1 ¾ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ¼ pounds zucchini, sliced into 1″chunks (about 5 cups)
- 3-4 small potatoes, cut in 1″chunks (optional)
- 2 fat garlic cloves, finely grated, passed through a press or minced
- 2 teaspoons dried mint or oregano
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, cracked with a mortar and pestle or the flat side of a chef’s knife (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- Lemon wedges, for serving
- ½ cup torn fresh basil leaves, for serving
Heat oven to 425°. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season all over with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
In a medium bowl, combine garlic, mint or oregano, coriander and red-pepper flakes. Whisk in oil. Add chicken, zucchini and potato pieces to the garlic mixture, tossing until well-coated. Spread chicken (skin side up) and zucchini in a single layer, and roast until chicken is cooked through and zucchini is browned and caramelized, 30 to 40 minutes. You don’t need to turn anything.
Once the pan is out of the oven, squeeze a lemon wedge over everything. Garnish with basil and serve with more lemon wedges and red-pepper flakes on the side.
My verdict:
This was a really good way to use up a large zucchini and a couple of small summer squash, but there are sheet pan chicken thighs recipes we’re much fonder of. Next time I’d marinate the chicken (and maybe the squash) for a couple of hours or overnight, but we had no room in the fridge for it. You’ll want at least ½ a lemon to squeeze over everything, maybe more. I used the coriander seeds and they might just be too old, but they didn’t make a big impact on the final dish — the basil made much more of a statement.
