Roasted chicken is always good and probably universally loved. It is definitely a favorite in our house, after steak that is. Making chicken is not complicated, doesn’t require lots of time, and it doesn’t cost much, even for organic meat.

Most chicken recipes require seasoning and some method of baking, but not much active work, unless you grill or sauté in a pan, in which case you have to attend to meat from time to time. My favorite way of making chicken is oven baked, which requires pretty much no effort from me, apart from turning it over maybe once.

All four of us in our family don’t like white meat, so I always buy drums, wings, or thighs. For this particular recipe I ordered 8 organic chicken thighs and had Instacart deliver them right to my door. I’ve been using Instacart for a while now and it has been especially helpful during corona pandemic.

When making roasted chicken I always feel that I am doing great things for my diet. Nutrisystem includes chicken in many meals and ever since I was on the program, I started using more chicken than before, even if it’s not breast meat. I take the skin off, but it’s the tastiest part for kids, so I don’t limit them there.

Sometimes I make rice and salad to go with roasted chicken, but this time I went with my vice – mashed potatoes. Instead of salad I quickly washed baby tomatoes; it was one of those evenings when I didn’t feel like chopping an elaborate salad.

Ingredients:

• 8 organic chicken thighs
• 20 cloves of organic garlic
• 2 tablespoons of butter, divided
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Seasoning of choice
• 5 medium organic potatoes
• I cup of organic milk
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• ¼ cup of organic chicken stock
• Baby tomatoes

The first step is to select a pan that could go into the oven. I don’t have such pan, so I used stoneware Dutch oven. Also preheat the oven to 380 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the oven is preheating, wash chicken thighs and pat them dry.

Salt and pepper the meat on both sides and set it aside, while you will be working on the garlic.

Place cleaned whole garlic cloves to the pan or pot that you will be using and cook them with 1 spoon of butter and olive oil for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

When done, take garlic away and put chicken skin side down.

Sprinkle whatever seasoning mix you will be using and brown it for about 5 minutes to get skin golden and crunchy.

After 5 minutes, turn the chicken thighs over, put the garlic back, season one more time and place the pan into the oven.

Set timer for 30 minutes. My oven required extra 10 minutes, but check yours after 30.

While chicken is cooking, make mashed potatoes.

Peel and boil potatoes in salty water. Once cooked, drain the water, add the remaining spoon of butter, and a cup of heated milk.

Then use hand held mixer to puree the potatoes until smooth and creamy. Set aside and check on your chicken.

When chicken is fully done, take the thighs and garlic out and make sauce in the same pot. Add chicken stock and 1 tablespoon of flour in the leftover chicken juice, stirring all the time.

Finally arrange chicken, mashed potatoes, and tomatoes on the plate. Pour some sauce on the chicken and some frozen dill on mashed potatoes. Enjoy right away or warmed up for lunch the next day!