Two entrees to make in sheet pans, with a plea for more
We begin the merry month of May with a request from C and A, who appeared in last week’s column. “Where does one find the best sushi in Chattanooga?”
You will have to read through the recipes that follow, or simply skip to the end, to know the reason for this next question: What is your trademark specialty? (And by the way, how do you prepare it?) Although I am a big fan of skipping to the end in a novel, to find out if it has a happy ending, I am always a fan of advising you to read through the recipes you send to each other. If you skip to the end, you’ll miss the tasty middle. Today, you’ll need only a sheet pan as grounding for two one-pan-fits-all recipes.
At this point we lay out the topic of sheet-pan meals. Tim Threadgill opened with his most recent favorite — featuring chicken thighs — and a Missionary Ridge contributor added a sheet-pan combination of shrimp and salmon.
What, we ask, is your favorite sheet-pan combination? Please share it with the rest of us.
EASY CHICKEN
Mr. Threadgill described his recipe as “really good and very easy. It can be made with boneless, skinless thighs as well. If you don’t have harissa paste, a spicy barbecue seasoning or Cajun seasoning would work as well. The honey and yogurt addition tames any heat quickly. This makes an easy weeknight dinner. We both enjoyed it. We served it the toaster-size mini-naan that most grocery stores (Aldi, Publix) sell now.”
Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs With Sweet Potatoes and Broccolini
Chicken thighs and sweet potato get crispy in the oven while broccolini roasts alongside in a foil packet for even cooking and easy cleanup.
Pro tip: Place the chicken thighs in the corners of the baking sheet, where there is more air circulation, for crispy skin. This recipe is free of sesame, nuts, soy, egg and gluten. Liz Mervosh is the chef.
4 (6-ounce) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat 3 ½ cups cubed, peeled sweet potato (about 16 ounces) 3 tablespoons extra-virgin
olive oil, divided
2 1/2 tablespoons harissa
paste, divided ¾ teaspoon salt, divided ½ teaspoon ground cumin
8 ounces broccolini
1 cup whole-milk, plain (Greek-style) yogurt, strained
1 teaspoon honey
Position oven rack in center; heat to 450 degrees. Toss chicken and sweet potato with 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon harissa paste, 1/2 teaspoon salt and cumin on a large rimmed baking sheet until coated. Spread in an even layer with 1 chicken thigh, skin side up, in each corner of the baking sheet.
Pile broccolini in the center of a 16-inch-long piece of foil. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Bring up both long sides of the foil until the edges meet; fold over, close and seal the edges. Fold each short side over to close and seal the edges. Place on the baking sheet with the chicken and sweet potato. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest chicken parts registers 165 degrees and the sweet potatoes are tender,
20 to 25 minutes.
Spread 1/4 cup yogurt onto each of 4 plates. Place a chicken thigh on each plate. Remove the broccolini from the foil; add to the sweet-potato mixture. Add honey and the remaining
1 1/2 tablespoons harissa and 1/4 teaspoon salt; stir until combined. Divide the vegetable mixture among the plates. Spoon any remaining drippings from the baking sheet over the chicken.
Nutrition information per serving (1 chicken thigh and about 1 cup vegetable mixture): 511 calories, 28 grams fat (7 grams saturated), 138 milligrams cholesterol, 32 grams carbohydrates, 11 grams total sugar (1 gram added sugar), 32 grams protein, 4 grams fiber,
709 milligrams sodium, 899 milligrams potassium.
EASY SALMON
Another reader, overhearing the conversation about sheet dinners, remembered one she tried long ago. Yeast of the Ridge says this recipe falls in the “easy but special occasion nonetheless” category. She added, “Salmon is healthy, and all of it bakes in lemon and butter juices.”
Sheet Pan Salmon, Shrimp and Asparagus
1 pound large shrimp,
uncooked
1/2 pound asparagus Seasoning (recipe
follows)
2 pounds fresh salmon
fillets
3 tablespoons oil (olive or
canola)
1 large lemon, sliced
1 stick unsalted butter, sliced
Seasoning:
1 ½ teaspoons ground
paprika
2 teaspoons salt ½ teaspoon ground
pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
Devein shrimp and remove the tail, if desired. Trim ends of asparagus. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all ingredients for the seasoning. Cut salmon into four or five equal parts. Arrange salmon and asparagus on a large baking sheet. Season salmon and asparagus (there will be leftover seasoning). Add lemon and butter slices to salmon and on the asparagus. Drizzle with oil. Bake 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, season shrimp, and toss to coat. Add shrimp to baking sheet, spreading out evenly. Add leftover butter and lemon over shrimp. Return to oven. Bake another 7 to 9 minutes, until shrimp and salmon are fully cooked. Pour the butter juices over the salmon, shrimp and asparagus. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.
WITH GRATITUDE
Once I was a high school teacher. A teacher’s best allies just may be his or her students’ grandparents, who are grateful for every person who pours into their adored descendants’ lives. In those days there was a grandmother, also a Fare Exchange reader, who came to our classroom with a perfect gift bag, a gracious note and her trademark specialty: a sweet loaf of sourdough bread. Again and again, she came.
The decades passed. The granddaughter is now a wife. And early one recent morning, here came that very same grandmother, bearing a perfect gift bag, a gracious note and the treasured loaf of sourdough bread. She takes no credit for the four-loaf batches she still makes, giving all the credit to an exceptional starter mix, which is more than 40 years old. Thank you, Julianne’s grandmother, for your sweet presence through the years.
And thanks to all the rest of you for your company here, these long, short years.