Roast Chicken With Potatoes, Asparagus, And Lemon

Some days even when I am home all day dinner seems to get away from me. And then as the oven clock is ticking I have to figure something out that will be tasty and quick. Mercifully i have just been to the farmer's market so I have a lot of choice ingredients to rely on.

I think it's been kind of cold lately in our part of Socal and my backyard garden is overflowing with lettuces, broccoli, chard, brussels sprouts, cauliflower -- not exactly the bounty of spring. But our local farmer's market had beautiful asparagus and I couldn't resist a few stalks of the spring time treat -- although I admittedly had no plan for a dish.

Flipping through ideas on the internet I came across a one pan dish that seemed perfect for a cook in a hurry.

I poured potatoes, olive oil, butter, garlic, and S&P into a roasting pan and popped them in the oven at 475º for 20 minutes. When the potatoes were just starting to crisp I put my chicken pieces -- generously seasoned with salt and pepper and popped the pan back in the over for another 20 minutes. Next came the asparagus chopped into two inch pieces, a whole lemon cut into 8 wedges, and a handful of fresh thyme sprigs. I mixed all those into the hot potatoes and chicken and popped the roasting pan back in the over for another 10 minutes until the asparagus was crisp tender.

Served with a bit of the pan sauce overtop this impromptu chicken dinner was a bit of spring for a new year LA winter day.