Thyme Roasted Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Thyme is my new favourite herb, not lemon thyme (yet) but the savory one. I so fell in love with thyme when I made my chicken roulade with roast veges. I have this itchy feel now that if I roast anything without thyme, it will come out below par. Of course thyme doesn’t go with everything, but it goes with MOST things as compared to more heady herbs like rosemary or sage. I had a tray of chicken thighs stocked in the fridge and some sweet potatoes. Since I have been without much inspiration lately, this is just a simple roasted meal with the oven doing all the cooking. No pre-marinade, no fancy basting oil, no brining or soaking the chicken.

The plate of goodness sitting on top of my new book! 🙂

The marinara sauce you see in the picture, now I purposely did that in case hubster were to SERIOUSLY request for a sauce or gravy of some kind. To me, I’d take my roasted chicken just as it is. So I took the trouble in the afternoon to make a roasted marinara sauce, tweaked from this recipe. In the end, he asked me why did I put a saucer of this red sauce there. SIGH!**

But roasting your own chicken and eating it immediately always tastes better because it’s moist and juicy. I had a roast chicken meal back in Kenny Roger’s Roasters (yes, I’m naming names here!) 4 months back and was mighty put-off by the way they cooked the chicken. It’s under-seasoned, super-dry and just rubbery. I don’t think I’ll ever set foot there again. So, roast your own bird….and enjoy a hot meal without the stamp of over-franchising.

THYME ROASTED CHICKEN AND SWEET POTATOES RECIPE

Ingredients;

Roast chicken;
3 chicken thighs, bone, skin and all
A bunch of fresh thyme
Salt
Black Pepper
1/2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 onion, cut to wedges
Roasted cherry tomatoes (optional)

Roast sweet potatoes;
3-4 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut to chunks
Olive oil
Fresh thyme
Salt
Black Pepper

Steps;

1. Put all the cut up sweet potatoes into a roasting tray. Pour about 2 tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle some salt and black pepper and tear some thyme and strewn it all over.

2. With your hands, toss everything together and roast in a 200C pre-heated oven for 30 to 45 mins till the potatoes are tender.
3. Pat your chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Season it well with salt and black pepper. Use a heatproof pan or a roasting tray that can take direct fire and heat till it’s hot. I just used my frying pan and covered the handle with double layers of foil.
4. Pour some olive oil and melt the butter. Sear the chicken thighs, skin side down till it’s browned but not crispy. Turn it over. Fill the gaps in between with cut onions so as to prevent drying and burning.

5. Strewn some fresh thyme leaves all over the chicken too before putting it in the hot 180C oven to roast for 20 – 30 mins.
6. Before the last 10 mins of roasting, place some roasted cherry tomatoes all over.
7. When it’s done, let the meat rest for about 10 mins before eating.
8. Enjoy with or without marinara sauce!

Bon appetit!