September 27, 2017
I feel terrible for not getting a proper post in last week, as I was so flat out with moving! It was honestly a wonder I made it through the week, much less had time to cook! But to make it up to you, I bring to you my first blog post from my new kitchen! We moved into our beautiful new apartment last week, after a few weeks of doing it up. It feels so great to finally be in after weeks of scrubbing bathroom floors, repainting wood and all that fun stuff. I feel like it made me appreciate moving in even more though, and now that we are in I couldn’t be happier.
I was also so excited to start using our new kitchen. Not only is it much bigger than our previous kitchen with plenty of bench space to utilise, it is so nice and light, which will be perfect for sharing with you the recipes I cook for my blog! I am absolutely in love with it, and cannot wait to have enough time to really get stuck back in to baking, and possibly an experiment or two now that I have so much room!
So I decided to share with you this week a recipe I strung together last week when I had one of my first cooks in our new home. Because I’ve been so wrecked when getting home from all the moving, I wanted something that would be quick and easy, and that I really didn’t need to think much about. I ended up with this recipe which was super easy, quite quick, and absolutely delicious! So much so that I thought it was a perfect recipe to share with you all.
This chicken bake is honestly one of the lowest maintenance things I’ve cooked in a long time. You only need one roasting dish, and you chuck everything in there along with the seasoning, then pop it all in the oven and set and forget. Honestly, how easy is oven cooking when you can just leave it in there and come back to a perfectly delicious meal? It was the best thing for a busy week, and didn’t even take that much time! Although I did burn myself on the oven, I guess some things will take getting used to!
- 500 grams skinless chicken breast, cut into 5-6 pieces
- 2 zucchinis, chopped into chunks
- 1/2 broccoli, cut into florets
- 2 carrots, chopped into chunks
- 1 brown onion, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, skin removed
- 2 tsp olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- Juice of one lemon
-
Preheat oven to 200C (400F), and line an oven proof pan with baking paper.
-
Place the chicken breasts, chopped zucchini, broccoli and carrots and onion into the pan.
-
Scatter the whole garlic cloves over the pan, and season the chicken and vegetables with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the turmeric, thyme and cayenne pepper over the pan, then evenly pour over the olive oil and lemon juice. Toss the vegetables and chicken to coat evenly, ensuring that the chicken is sitting over the vegetables once coated.
-
Place the pan in the oven and cook for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir once half way through to ensure even cooking.
-
Serve right out of the oven with a side salad, or on its own.
So there you have it, I told you it was easy! I love that you just have to chop up the chicken and vegetables, chuck them into a pan along with the spices, and once it is cooked you’ve got a delicious meal! We just had it on its own as there was enough vegetables there to make a balanced meal, but you could easily serve this with some rice or cous cous if you feel like it, or some salad if you’re after something fresh! The great thing about this recipe too is that you can easily sub in any vegetables that you have in your fridge, so it’s a great way to use up what you have on hand. I already had these in my fridge which was as far as my decision on vegetables went, as it meant I didn’t need to go out to the store and buy anything extra.
The chicken was absolutely delicious, and the flavours worked beautifully together. I love roasting vegetables with turmeric so much (it’s something my parents and sister got me on to) but I think the lemon and spices added a little something extra to just straight turmeric. I loved the colour that the turmeric gave the chicken too, it made the dish look so vibrant! Turmeric is also very good for you as it is an anti-inflammatory, so this is a great way to get more of it into your diet without drinking turmeric lattes! I think the recipe is also quite healthy, so it is a perfect week night meal when you need something lighter. I know we did after how much terrible food we’ve been eating in the move!
I think I need to make these sorts of one pot meals more often, I had forgotten how easy they are! I see them on Pinterest all the time but I never really cook them for some reason. Does anyone have any favourites that I should try?
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
