Sheet-Pan Chicken With Squash and Dates

 

YIELD:  4 servings

TIME:  1 hour

Kay Chun, New York Times

This weeknight sheet-pan dinner combines chicken with simple ingredients that hit a number of notes, all salty, sweet, tangy and rich. The juicy Medjool dates caramelize as they cook, while the chickpeas become extra toasty and nutty. Their textures complement the velvety roasted squash and meaty chicken. A lemony olive-caper relish with fresh parsley, bolstered by pan juices, brightens and balances. Chop up leftovers and repurpose them in a rice salad with crumbled feta or grated Parmesan for extra tang. Or, for a fantastic vegetarian side dish or warm salad, you could make this recipe without the chicken.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds delicata squash (about 2 large squash), scrubbed, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced crosswise into 1-inch-thick pieces
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
•  Kosher salt and black pepper
• 4 whole bone-in, skin-on chicken legs (about 3 pounds)
• 4 ounces pitted large Medjool dates (about 6), quartered lengthwise
• ½ cup pitted green olives (about 2 ounces), coarsely chopped
• ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon drained capers, plus 2 tablespoons caper brine
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges, for serving

PREPARATION

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. 
• On a rimmed baking sheet, combine squash and chickpeas with 3 tablespoons oil; season well with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, then spread on sheet-pan in an even layer. 
• Rub chicken with 1 tablespoon oil, season with salt and pepper, and arrange on top, skin-side up. 
• Roast for 20 minutes.
• Stir in dates, and roast until squash is golden and chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes longer.
• While the mixture roasts, in a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup oil with the olives, parsley, capers and caper brine, and lemon juice. Season the olive relish with salt and pepper, then set aside.
• Divide the roasted chicken, squash, dates and chickpeas among plates. Stir any pan juices into the relish, then spoon the relish on top of each serving. Serve with lemon wedges.

Sweet Potato Casserole

 

You can make this casserole 24-48 hours ahead and cook it whenever you are ready.

To save time, I used canned cooked sweet potatoes. Simply drain the syrup and mash. The recipe calls for 3 cups of cooked sweet potatoes, or you can use 1-29 oz can of yams or cut sweet potatoes in syrup.

Unfortunately, it’s not a low-calorie dish, and despite the healthy sweet potatoes, with the butter and sugar, it’s probably not a dish you would want to eat every night, but since it’s a holiday... well, maybe you should just plan to take a long walk after dinner.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes or 1-29 oz can yams/cut sweet potatoes in syrup, drained
• 1-cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup toasted and chopped pecans
• 1/3 stick melted butter

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, eggs, melted butter, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix well.
• Pour this mixture into a medium size casserole dish, which has been lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
• For the topping, combine, light brown sugar, flour, toasted and chopped pecans and melted butter in a small bowl and mix well.
• Sprinkle the topping evenly over the sweet potato mixture and bake uncovered for approximately 35-40 minutes or until the mixture is set.

From a blog post by Sharon Rigsby in the Tallahassee Democrat