Foodie Fridays: One Pan Greek Chicken and Vegetables

Looking for a quick and easy weeknight dinner, I checked out one of my favorite food blogs called "Damn Delicious".  The recipes on this site keep things simple, calling for ingredients that are usually found in most kitchens and taking very little time to prepare.  I found an easy one pan meal with Greek flavors, so I pulled together the ingredients and tried it out.  I had to make one minor change.  The original recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.  I do not like dark meat, so I substituted white meat.  I would have preferred to use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts cut in half (as I did in a Nigella Lawson recipe here), but all I had in the house was chicken tenders, so I used those instead.  I knew that they would be a bit dry, but the marinade was flavorful enough to make up for the slight dryness.  Next time I will be sure to use the chicken breasts.  The marinade for the chicken is perfectly flavored, and the vegetables cooked to just the right tenderness.  I am looking forward to trying more recipes from this site!

One Pan Greek Chicken and Vegetables

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (see Note)
1/4 C. olive oil, plus more for vegetables
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. red wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper to taste
16 oz. baby new potatoes (about 1-inch diameter), quartered
16 oz. green beans

In a one-gallon resealable plastic bag, combine the chicken with the next five ingredients.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Seal the bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Place the potatoes and beans in a single layer in a roasting pan.  Toss with about 2 T. olive oil plus salt and pepper to taste.  Lay the chicken pieces over the top of the vegetables (if you have any marinade left in the bag, you can either discard it or pour it into the pan, but I had almost no marinade left in my bag).

Roast the chicken and vegetables at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.  I like to turn the oven off and let the pan sit in the oven for another five minutes, but this step is optional.  If you used skin-on chicken, turn the oven up to broil and cook for 2-3 minutes longer to brown the skin, but do not do this if you used chicken tenders.  Remove from the oven and serve.  Serves 4.

Note: Instead of chicken thighs, you can use 4 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts cut in half (or 2 lbs. chicken tenders if you don't mind slightly dry chicken).  Be sure to use very small baby new potatoes (I used Melissa's Dutch Yellow Baby Potatoes from our local Walmart) and cut them into small pieces, or the potatoes will not cook completely.  Also, use regular green beans and not the slender haricots verts, as the cooking time is too long for the latter.