Oven Roasted Chicken with Lemon Garlic Green Beans

It's about that time... swimsuit season. And while, I live a block away from Lake Michigan, I have no interest in getting in a bathing suit and laying out on the beach. However, the paths along the lake are wonderful. I just wish they would make more of them more friendly on the joints instead of using concrete.

Anyway, pretty soon we should be getting in a lot new varieties of vegetables and fruits like asparagus, green beans and so forth. With that in mind... I found a recipe that uses only 6 ingredients. Salt and pepper not included. I've made some minor changes to this recipe, mainly because the marinade gets used up before I can pour it over the chicken.

You don't have to use only chicken breasts. You can use chicken or turkey drumsticks. You can use a whole chicken as well. If you're a vegetarian, you can omit the chicken. You can even use fish, something sturdy like Haddock or Cod. Even Salmon would work.

You can trade in the green beans for asparagus or broccoli or whatever other vegetable you have. This is one of those meals that are perfect for that vegetable that's about to go bad.

Ingredients
9 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I know it's a lot, but trust me, it's needed. Most of it will end up at the bottom of the pan.
1 thinly sliced lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt (preferably Kosher salt)
Pepper
1 lb green beans
8 small red potatoes quartered
4 bone in, skin on chicken breasts (You can use whatever chicken you have on had or what was on sale.)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a large baking dish or cast iron skillet with 1 Tablespoon of the EVOO.  Arrange the lemon slices in a single layer in the bottom of the dish or skillet.

2. In a large bowl, coming the remaining 8 tablespoons of EVOO, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper. This is where you need to mix and taste the marinade to make sure it has enough salt and pepper to your liking.

3. Add the green beans to the marinade, and then using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the green beans from the marinade and layer on top of the lemon slices. Do the same to the potatoes.

4. With the remaining marinade, toss in the chicken and completely coat the chicken with the marinade. Then layer the chicken skin side up.

5. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Roast for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to roast for additional 20 minutes.

6. My oven cooks really fast. So at the 50 minute mark, the potatoes and green beans were done to my satisfaction. If they are not done to your satisfaction, then remove the chicken from the dish or skillet to a plate and cover with foil. Then let the green beans and potatoes roast for an additional 10 minutes.

7. LET THE MEAT REST for about five minutes. When you eat meat, whether it be chicken, beef, pork, or anything else, you need to let the juices that have been bubbling in the meat settle back. If you cut into the chicken before that five minutes, then you will release all of the chickens juices and it will become dry.  You can wait five minutes.

CALORIES:  283
Calories from fat: 78
Total fat: 9g
Saturated fat: 2g
Trans fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 42mg
Total Carbohydrates: 39g
Dietary Fiber: 4g
Sugars: 3g
Protein: 14g

Vitamin A: 4%
Vitamin C: 47%
Calcium: 4%
Iron: 13%