Roasted Chicken and Potatoes with Lemon and Rosemary

This week I knew I wanted to stick with my fall comfort food theme for my next post. After crock-pots the next thing on my list was roasting. I love roasting meats and veggies for fall. The texture and taste is perfect for colder weather. It's also super easy (you may be noticing a trend with my meals - ease is key). What I love is that you just throw everything together in a pan, toss it in the oven and wait for dinner to be ready. 

Here's what you need for tonight's dish:

- 1 lb Chicken (I used breast because I had it on hand, but if you have thighs that works too)

- 3 lemons

- Rosemary 

- 1 onion

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 1/3 cup olive oil

- Red pepper flakes

- 8 - 10 baby red potatoes

- salt and pepper to taste

To start, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees and spray a pan with non-stick cooking spray and lay your chicken flat across.

After your chicken is in the pan you can add the potatoes and onions. I chopped both into large pieces and scattered across the pan.

From there take one of your lemons and slice it thinly. Then take the slices and add them on top of the chicken along with some of the rosemary sprigs.

Now that all of the basics are in pulled together, it's time to work on the sauce. In a small bowl whisk together the lemon juice (from the remaining two lemons), olive oil, rosemary, garlic and the red pepper flakes. Pour this mixture evenly over the chicken and pop in the oven for an hour, or until the chicken and potatoes are done.

Once the food is done just plate and enjoy! You'll love how flavorful the chicken is with just a few simple ingredients! The lemon really adds a nice citrus taste to the chicken and is complemented with the spice of the red pepper flakes. The potatoes and chicken will have just a nice crisp to them from the sauce, but is super juicy on the inside. 

If you're looking for other chicken dishes click here or comfort food dishes click here.

If you give this recipe a try let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! 

Crock-Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Well friends, I hate to say it but summer is officially over. Well, at least here in Minnesota. But you know what, let's focus on the positive shall we? Fall brings a lot of my favorite things: apple picking, pumpkin patches, leaves changing colors. But more than any of that, my favorite thing about fall has GOT to be.... my crock-pot. After receiving one for Christmas last year the world of crock-pot recipes has been opened and it truly is endless. From chili to roasts to pastas. You can really make anything in one of these. 

With that, it only seemed appropriate that my first post of the fall (and in quite some time as well) would be a crock-pot recipe. My mind went immediately to one of my favorite soups - loaded baked potato. Does anything say fall comfort food like a cheesy potato soup? Other than mac 'n cheese, I don't think so.

What's great about this recipe, and any crock-pot recipe at that, is that they are so easy and don't take much time to prep. All you need to do is gather all of your ingredients, throw them in the pot, and then let you home fill with the delicious aroma. When you lift the lid a few hours later all the magic of the crock-pot comes to life.

This recipe is super simple and only requires a few ingredients, most of which you may already have on-hand:

6 potatoes

1 white onion

1/4 stick of butter

1 quart broth (I used low sodium vegetable broth)

1 cup cream (I used half and half)

3 cloves minced garlic

2 cups cheese (I used 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 colby jack)

Salt and pepper to taste

To start, simply peel your potatoes and dice your onion. They can go directly into the pot.

Next, pour in your stock of choice and butter. There's no need to melt the butter, you can just cut it up and drop it in.

And then, that's it! Now you can kick-back and enjoy the rest of your day. If you're like me, you're crockin' on a Sunday and can finish the rest of your chores like laundry, cleaning, etc. All the while, magical things are happening under the lid. There's no need to check, but I can't help but lift the lid and stir every couple of hours... mostly to smell what's cooking. 

You can let this cook for 8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high. Just so long as the potatoes are tinder and break-apart with the touch of a fork.

Once finished, you'll need to mash the potatoes a bit to your liking. I prefer my soup a little chunky so I just mashed them coarsely. Once finished mashing, this is when we add the cheese and cream. Don't worry if the soup seems very watery before adding the cheese and cream. These ingredients will help thicken it up.

After adding the final ingredients, all that's left is to garnish and serve! I added sliced green onions and bacon to mine. I also tried topping with croutons to add a little crunch and it was delicious!

And there you have it! It doesn't get much easier than this guys - so you have no excuse to skip out on Sunday dinner next weekend. Crock-pots can be such a huge life-saver and the options are honestly endless. You'll see throughout the fall and winter as I post some of my favorite recipes. Check out my last post for pot roast.

Hope you enjoy! Until next time, happy cooking!