Sheet-Pan Chicken With Sweet Potatoes and Fennel

Credit New York Times

Sheet-Pan Chicken With Sweet Potatoes and Fennel

Yewande Komolafe

• Yield 4 servings
• Time 45 minutes

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Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.

This easy, sheet-pan dinner sings thanks to its zingy vinaigrette of sharp pecorino, warming cracked pepper and bright lemon — which you’ll want to slather on everything. These flavors really get a chance to shine drizzled on top of roast chicken and seasonal vegetables. Don’t be afraid to substitute the sweet potatoes and fennel with whatever vegetables you have on hand. Serve the dish with a handful of leafy greens and a generous amount of the vinaigrette.

Poultry, Chicken Breast, Fennel, Pecorino, Sweet Potato, Dinner, Weekday, Weeknight, Main Course

533 ratings

Ingredients

• 2 ½ to 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (about 10 to 12 ounces each)
• ½ cup olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 1/4 pounds)
• 1 small fennel bulb, cut into 1-inch wedges, fronds chopped and reserved
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• 1 lemon, zested, plus 2 tablespoons juice
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1 cup crumbled or grated pecorino cheese
• ¼ cup parsley, leaves and tender stems
• 4 cups leafy greens, such as baby spinach or torn kale (optional)

• Nutritional Information

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss chicken with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and arrange on a large rimmed baking sheet, skin-side up.
2. In the same bowl, toss potatoes and fennel with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and arrange in an even layer around the chicken.
3. Roast until chicken and potatoes are a deep golden brown and fennel is starting to caramelize at the edges, about 35 to 45 minutes.
4. As chicken cooks, combine vinegar, lemon zest and juice, mustard, garlic and 1 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Whisk in remaining 1/4 cup olive oil in a thin stream and stir in pecorino. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to rest. Toss the fennel fronds and parsley with the roasted vegetables.
6. To serve, cut the chicken off the bone and slice. Divide chicken and vegetables among plates. Serve with a handful of leafy greens if you like, and spoon the pecorino vinaigrette over everything.

Red and Green Summer Salad - served for our Challah Day in 2019

This recipe comes from "The Gourmet Jewish Cookbook" by Denise Phillips.

Truth to tell, this is not a particularly Jewish recipe - except it doesn't involve any dairy, which is great, because it means you can serve it with meat when you're keeping kosher.  That's rarer than you think - a surprising number of my salad recipes include cheese of one kind or another.

It serves 6, and claims to take only 15 minutes to prepare, but I found chopping took longer.

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

1/4 Cup olive oil
1 TB wholegrain mustard. (I used Nathan's Spicy.)
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 TB clear honey
salt and pepper to taste

For the salad:
1 bulb of fennel, trimmed, core removed, and roughly chopped
2 avocados, peeled, stoned and cut in strips
8 oz baby spinach
11 oz strawberries, trimmed and cut in half or smaller
2  red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped

1. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and adjust according to taste.
2. Combine everything else, and pour the dressing over the salad just before serving.

Cioppino - a lovely seafood stew

 From the Press Enterprise, Dec. 20, 2015

Classic holiday dishes usually are fattier, sweeter and heavier than our normal fare, so when a traditional dish actually is healthy without any tweaks, that’s something to celebrate!

So if cioppino isn’t somewhere on your holiday menu, let’s change that.

Cioppino is a tomato-based fish stew that relies on simple and healthy ingredients for flavor.

It’s the ultimate guilt-free comfort food.

Cioppino is incredibly versatile. You can make it as simple or fancy as you like depending on the seafood you use. Anything from the fishmonger’s best catch to frozen seafood mixes will work.

And a mix of fish and seafood each week is one of the best health moves we can make for our brain and heart health.

My cioppino version is super quick. The result is a light-and-lovely tomato broth that satisfies without weighing you down, which is the perfect foil for those belt-loosening meals that dot the holiday landscape.

The recipe takes just minutes to prepare, making it perfect for entertaining (spend more time with your guests!) and weeknight post-work dining alike.

You even could make the broth the night before, then simply heat it up and add the seafood moments before serving. That means you get a company-worthy dinner on the table in under 15 minutes.

Fresh fennel and orange zest are the secrets to great flavor. That hint of licorice plus that slightly sweet aromatic orange zest work magic together in the acidic tomato sauce.

And remember, any cioppino recipe really is a template, ready for you to personalize and make your own.

Once you make one cioppino this holiday season, I’ll bet you will be enjoying fish stews throughout the year.

Quick Cioppino

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 6

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced (a mandoline is best)

Kosher salt

8 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

11/2 cups dry white wine

11/2 cups fish stock or clam juice

1 cup chicken stock (or more fish stock)

1/2 to 1 cup water

28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, finely chopped and with juices

2 bay leaves

1 pound cod (or other white fish), cut into 1-inch chunks

1 pound uncooked, shelled shrimp

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped parsley

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium, heat the olive oil.

Add the onion, fennel and a generous pinch of salt.

Cook until tender, about 12 minutes, stirring often.

Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, tomato paste, oregano, thyme and orange zest, then cook, stirring until very fragrant, about 3 minutes.

Increase the heat to high and deglaze the pan with the wine and let bubble for 3 minutes, stirring.

Add the stock, 1/2 cup of water, tomatoes and bay leaves, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Taste, adjust seasoning, then add an additional 1/2 cup of water if too thick.

Add the cod and shrimp, then cover and cook just until the fish and shrimp are cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.

Uncover, stir in the lemon juice, then top with parsley to serve.

Nutritional information per serving: 270 calories; 60 calories from fat (22 percent of total calories); 7 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 125 mg cholesterol; 910 mg sodium; 15 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 6 g sugar; and 27 g protein.

Chicken with fennel, tomatoes and zucchini

I look forward all year to the fennel from Dancing Hen Farm, outside Benton, just so I can make this recipe.

Ingredients

• 6 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
• 5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 2 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb (about 2 small bulbs)
• 2 cups finely chopped zucchini 
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced leek (about 2 large)
• 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained 
• 2 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds or fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

1. Dredge the chicken in breadcrumbs. Heat 3 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove from pan.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in pan over medium heat. Add fennel bulb, zucchini, and leek; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broth and next 6 ingredients (broth through tomatoes). Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Return the chicken to pan; cover and cook 12 minutes or until the chicken is done. Sprinkle with fennel fronds.

Cooking Light 
NOVEMBER 2001