Mediterranean Chicken Tray Bake
This Mediterranean Chicken Tray Bake tastes delicious and it’s super quick and easy to put together
It was a beautiful Autumn day outside and the sun was shining again after some pretty gloomy days. I was eager to get in the garden – week 4 of lockdown in my bubble of one made me think this was perfect timing for a colourful and fragrant Mediterranean-inspired Chicken Tray Bake, to be enjoyed outdoors with bare feet on the grass and sunshine on my face.
Hello sunshine!
This Mediterranean Chicken Tray Bake tastes delicious and is super quick and easy to put together.
As the chicken, vege, herbs and spices combo bake, juices are released, and create a lovely, flavourful pool of broth at the bottom of the roasting dish. This broth keeps everything moist and is (in my opinion), the best part of the entire meal – it’s so yummy, I could eat it all by itself! Make sure to spoon some over the chicken and vege when you serve.
This Chicken Tray Bake is also a great zero waste type-dish and can be adapted in numerous ways, depending on the vegetables, herbs and condiments you have available.
My colourful assortment today included a handful of gourmet potatoes, half a red capsicum, a red onion, a few mushrooms and a couple of tomatoes - but these could be easily replaced by many other combinations – root vegetables, pumpkins, courgettes and cauliflower, to name a few, are all suitable.
Zero Waste: Chicken Tray Bake is a great way to use bits and pieces from the fridge
And even though the Mediterranean flavours taste amazing, with the paprika, olives and capers, and fresh basil from the garden, these can also be adapted. For a Middle Eastern-style tray bake, for example, you could replace condiments with allspice, lemon juice and parsley; for Asian, soy, ginger and spring onions; and Indian, curry powder, a little chilli and coriander.
For preschools: If cooking this recipe for lunch at the centre, prepare tray bake as instructed, let it cool until enough to handle. Dice chicken and vege to desired size. Return to dish and warm in the oven or microwave, before serving.
Mediterranean Chicken Tray Bake
Serves 4 – 6
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (or boneless chicken thighs), cut into 2 or 3 large pieces
3 - 4 Garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1 ½ tsp paprika
1 lemon, juice only
1 red onion, thickly sliced
½ red capsicum, cut in strips
Handful of button mushrooms, cleaned and halved
2 – 3 tomatoes, cut in chunks (or small handful cherry tomatoes)
8 -10 gourmet potatoes, washed and halved (or quartered, depending on size)
2 Tbsp capers (optional)
½ cup black olives (optional)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
2. Place chicken pieces in an oven proof dish or tray. Season with salt, pepper, crushed garlic, paprika and lemon juice. Toss to combine.
3. Arrange prepared vegetables over the chicken (red onion, capsicum, mushroom, tomato and gourmet potatoes. Scatter olives, capers and basil leaves and season with salt and pepper.
5. Drizzle well with olive oil. Toss well (I usually use my hands for this), making sure everything is well coated with seasoning and olive oil. Bring chicken pieces to the top (see picture above).
6. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. checking at every 20 minutes, turning chicken and vege pieces to ensure they cook evenly. Once chicken pieces have coloured, I usually tuck them in under the vege and bring potatoes (or another root vege) to the top, as they take a little longer to cook, and to allow them to reach a nice golden colour too.
Serve!
Serving suggestion :)