It's Good Though…

Yield: 1, multiply to suit your needs

https://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/blog/change-your-life-chicken

A  great method for sheet-pan chicken thighs. Works with bone-in or boneless skinless thighs and whatever firm vegetables you like.

• 1-2chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on per person
• 2handfuls of vegetables per person using onion, carrot, potato, sweet potato, Brussels sprouts, green beans, asparagus, leek, and cauliflower as desired

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Not a typo. Five hundred.

Line a half-sheet pan with heavy duty foil. The pan needs to hold your vegetables comfortably – not too close together, not too far apart. Heavy duty is less likely to tear, i.e., to get dirty from chicken grease.

Cut your vegetables, and toss with olive oil, more salt than you think you need, and black pepper. These are the sizes to go for: large bite sized. Carrots take the longest, so make those thinner than the rest. Consider cooking speeds with the vegetables you choose.

Green beans don’t need cutting, so those get tossed with the rest. Notice how cozy the vegetables are with each other but that there isn’t more than one layer.

Peel the skin back from the chicken. Generously season both sides of the chicken under the skin with salt and pepper. Fold the skin back over. Pat the chicken skin dry with a wad of paper towels.

Place the chicken skin side up directly on top of the vegetables. The fat from the chicken skin will seep into the vegetables below the thighs, imparting flavor and moisture while the exposed vegetables get a tiny bit charred. It’s a perfect marriage of texture and flavor.

Bake at 500°F for 50 minutes.

If, due to a senior moment, you bought boneless skinless thighs, reduce the time to 30-40 minutes. They’re done when the chicken temperature is over 185°F.

You don’t have to be concerned about the vegetables burning at such a high temperature because they’re nestled closely together. The most you’ll get will be a few crusty edges, and those are delightful.

Serve.

Variations:

Add fresh rosemary or thyme to the vegetables.

Rub the chicken (not the skin) with lemon or orange zest. (Rosemary and orange are a heavenly match.)

Reinvent the meal with different vegetable combinations: onion, potato, carrot; leek and asparagus; onion and sweet potato, green bean, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower. If you love it, try it. The worst that can happen is it’s not great and you won’t make it again.