Roasted Vegetable Medley with Chicken and Feta Cheese
This recipe comes from Aarti Sequeira and Food Network. I’ve adapted it slightly by adding chicken and a sweet potato as well as adjusting the temperature a bit for cooking the chicken thoroughly in a similar time.
Special equipment needed: 2 large sheet pans, a coffee grinder or a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to grind cumin and coriander seeds
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: Sheet pan dinner
Ingredients
For the Seasoning
- 1/3 c Raw Hazelnuts
- 4 t Coriander Seeds
- 1 T Cumin Seeds
For the Chicken and Vegetables
- 1 Large Red Onion, peeled and cut into 1/2” wedges
- 1 Lg Fennel Bulb, cut into 1/2” wedges
- 2 Lg Carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2” rounds
- 1 Lg Sweet Potato, cut into 1/2” wedges
- 1 Lg Lemon, cut into 1/4” slices
- 6 Bone-in, Skin-on Chicken Thighs
- 1/3 c Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
- 6 oz. Feta Cheese Crumbles
- (Optional) Chopped Parsley or Cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
Make the Seasoning
- Heat oven to 350F. On a sheetpan, roast the hazelnuts 10-12 minutes (See Notes). Remove to cool. Increase oven heat to 400F.
- In a small saute pan over Medium Heat, toast the coriander and cumin seeds 3-4 minutes, until they darken and become fragrant.
- Roughly chop the hazelnuts and place them in a spice grinder or coffee grinder along with the toasted seeds. Grind ingredients until all are of uniform size, about 30 seconds. Set aside.
Put Everything on the Pans
- Place the chicken thighs on a sheetpan. Place chopped vegetables and lemon in a single layer on a separate sheet pan, placing any that don’t fit on the same sheet as the chicken thighs.
- Drizzle chicken and vegetables with the olive oil. Generously salt and pepper the chicken and the vegetables. Sprinkle the nut and spice mixture over the chicken and the vegetables. Using your hands or a large spoon, turn the vegetables a few times to get spice mixture on all sides. Rub spice mixture into the skin of the chicken pieces as well, and turn skin-side down.
- Place sheet pans into the oven. After 25 minutes, turn the chicken pieces, stir vegetables and sprinkle the feta cheese evenly across the vegetables and the chicken. Return to oven for 20-25 more minutes or until vegetables are caramellized and tender, and chicken is done.
- Serve with a garnish of chopped parsley or cilantro and an additional drizzle of olive oil, if desired.
Notes
Hazelnuts toast most evenly in the oven at 350F. But you could toasts them over medium-high in a small saute pan, making sure to stir frequently to prevent burning. This would reduce total cook time a bit, too.
Be aware all ovens are different. 400F may be too hot for your oven, especially on a “Convection/Bake” setting, you may need to set it at 375F instead. Just be sure chicken is fully cooked and veggies are fork-tender.
Find it online: https://hummingbirdthyme.com/roasted-vegetables-chicken-feta/
