Chicken
for when you're doing too much
Sometimes doing too much is a good thing, maybe even a great thing. Sometimes doing too much means you’re burnt out from a 60 hour work week, sometimes you don’t realize you’re doing too much until you’ve done too much. Whatever it looks like, the hardest thing in life is finding the balance of “too much” and “not enough”.
This recipe, is for the time where you are willing to do just enough because you are almost doing too much. Aggressively pulverizing tomatoes on a box grater to get a acidic pulp, to be dressed with roasted chicken juices. That’s it. I constantly am thinking am I doing enough to this recipe, am I not doing enough? But the most important thing - if it tastes good, eat it. It doesn’t need to be complicated, it doesn’t need ingredients from any specialty stores, and sometimes it includes some pretty terrible early season tomatoes.
I am trying to expand my tomato season a few months (I won’t do winter tomatoes, sorry). Early season tomatoes do in fact have a use. Although they aren’t the best for eating raw, they are ok slightly cooked (like this instance). And I would NEVER replace a canned tomato for a fresh tomato, they aren’t the same and they don’t perform the same, but early season tomatoes deserve love and I am trying to spread it around.
Chances are you have all of these ingredients already, which in a world of constant, non-stop grocery stopping, feels like a mitzvah. If it’s a day where you thought you nailed that job interview but didn’t get it - maybe you chop the tomatoes (lazy is okay sometimes). Or if you have a day off and feel like putting in the extra effort you might grate the tomatoes. Either way, cooking is a way of figuring it out. What you can do, but more importantly - what you want to do.
Sheet pan chicken with raw tomatoes
Serves 4-6
Tools - box grater
Ingredients
3 ½ - 4 pounds chicken (bone in, skin on)
1 lb. medium sized tomatoes
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic - grated
½ - 1 tsp crushed chili flake (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the chicken on a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. (1 tsp diamond crystal kosher salt per pound of protein). Cook for 35-45 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees and is golden brown, rotating the baking sheet halfway through cooking.
Using the large size of a box grater, grate the tomatoes into a bowl leaving the skins behind. (don’t throw the skins away, they’re still good). Add in vinegar, garlic and chili flake (if using). Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Once the chicken is cooked, instantly remove the chicken from the sheet pan and pour the tomato mixture onto the pan. Using a spatula, scrap the chicken bits and juice from the pan. The sauce will slightly thicken with the addition of the chicken fat. Pour from the sheet pan back into the bowl.
Serve alongside the chicken or on top of the chicken.
To serve
If you have extra sauce, you can serve alongside with pasta or for dipping with bread
