One-Pan Meyer Lemon Roast Chicken and Veggies

Ok so here we go.  

Dinner that can be done super fast or super slow depending on how your day goes and how long your newborn naps for.  

Because that's how we plan our days now, right?  Seriously, though, this dinner is one of those easy-peasy ones that is pretty basic but super duper delicious.  I got the idea from my bff Rachael Ray and made it my own by...I don't know, I don't really remember what she did, I just had a note on my phone that said "chicken on one pan."  So, I'm not saying this is an adapted recipes because I can't find the original to save my life, you know?  

I'm the best Millennial EVER.  

So, for this, we have veggies that roast in butter and rosemary and lemon, and then chicken roasts right on top of THAT in more butter, and then the lemon zest and some pine nuts go over everything.  Pine nuts!  So delicious, and also skippable if you don't have any on hand.  This is one of those idea-meals where you can swap out the veggies, herbs, even use fish or pork chops...you get the idea...to make this taste different every time you make it.  Rosemary and meyer lemon, though?  The best there ever was.  OF COURSE you can use a regular lemon and this would be equally delicious, but my friend Matt has a meyer lemon tree in his apartment and one fell off so he gave it to me!  So I used it to roast these veggies and hot damn, veggies in butter and lemon juice are the best ever.  Let's do this.  

You need potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, pine nuts, butter, a lemon, some green beans, chicken breasts, salt, and rosemary.  ALL of the ingredients can be swapped out too - any kind of lemon, dried rosemary, smaller or larger potatoes, other nuts instead of pine....all totally doable.  

First, preheat the oven to 400F and figure out your pan situation.  You need a baking sheet with a rack - the veggies will cook under the rack and the chicken will be on it.  You can also do 2 separate pans if you need to - we just want all the ingredients to have a good amount of space to roast and not be too crowded in the dish, so a large baking sheet is key, or two if you're making this for a big group!  Cut the potatoes in half, quarter the tomatoes, and peel the garlic cloves.  Whole roasted garlic cloves are the BEST EVER, Y'ALL.  Promise.  

Next, melt half the butter in a little dish and mince the rosemary.  

Now, arrange the potatoes, tomatoes, and garlic cloves on the baking sheet.  

Sprinkle over the rosemary, sprinkle on some salt, and drizzle with the melted butter.  

Put the pan in the oven for 15 minutes - we do 2 rounds of roasting because the potatoes and garlic take longer than the beans and the chicken.  While the potatoes are roasting, zest and slice the lemon.  

After 15 minutes, take the potato mixture out of the oven.  It won't be fully cooked, just starting to soften the veggies.  

Now, scatter the lemon slices and the green beans over the potatoes.  

Then top THAT with the oven rack, the chicken, butter, salt + pepper, and another sprig of rosemary if you want to be fancy.  Just press the butter into the chicken with your fingers, it'll melt and drip on to the lemon slices and the green beans.  

Return the pan to the oven, this time with everything, and let it cook for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  At this point the veggies should be done, so just check the chicken - you can cut into it to see if it's cooked or use a meat thermometer - the chicken should be at 165F.  

While the chicken is cooking, do a little bit of a chop on the pine nuts, and combine them with the lemon zest and a sprinkle of salt - we'll use this to top everything when it's done. 

And that's it!  

I like to slice the chicken in case someone doesn't want an entire breast, but other than that we sprinkle over the pine nut mixture and SERVE.  

The flavors here are insane, as you'd imagine with anything that starts with lemon and butter, but the meal overall is super duper healthy and easy, which I'm a big fan of in January - we can get back to puff pastry in February, right?  

I also like that this can a thousand percent be done on a weeknight but if you throw in some nice wine, crusty bread, and a green salad we can make this for a weekend + company but only end up with one dang pan to wash.  

Make this soon, and enjoy!