It’s The Sheet
I have been a little obsessed by sheet pan cooking lately. What is sheet pan cooking? you may ask. It’s basically a one-pot meal for the oven. Everything is cooked together on the sheet pan. Cuts down on time and dishes! The best part is the cooking everything on a sheet pan—it makes it easy to enjoy the roasted flavors of the fall.

To be fair, it can take a couple of times making a sheet pan recipe to get it exactly right. Sometimes the chicken you are using can release a little too much liquid and make everything a little soggy (though still tasty).

With a little online research, you can find an amazing number of recipes for sheet pan dinners. Or, if you really want to commit you can order this lovely cookbook Sheet Pan Suppers: 120 Recipes for Simple, Surprising, Hands-Off Meals Straight from the Oven.  And, go nuts!

My most recent sheet pan discovery is this recipe for Sweet Potato Sheet Pan Chicken. My husband went wild for it. It’s a perfect mid-week meal.

And, if I could offer one piece of advice, no matter what recipe you are making, line your sheet pan with heavy-duty foil before putting everything on it. You will thank yourself when you are too stuffed to clean up….

Sweet Potato Sheet Pan Chicken
Yields 4 servings
Adapted from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoon honey
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
1 to 2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (4 to 6 thighs)
2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces sweet potato (1 large), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (pimenton)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions
Prepare the garnish
In a small, shallow bowl, mix together vinegar and honey. Add in half the red onion, a pinch of salt, and stir. Toss the mixture occasionally as the chicken cooks.

Prepare the marinade
In a large bowl, mix together 1 teaspoon salt, garlic, coriander, and black pepper. Add chicken to the bowl and rub the mixture all over it. Let marinate for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 425 ºF.

Prepare the vegetables
In a large bowl, toss together 2 tablespoons of the oil, the sweet potato, pepper, remaining onion, sage, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, paprika, and cayenne. Spread the vegetables out on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil.

Prepare the chicken
Add remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil to marinated chicken and turn to coat. Place chicken pieces, skin-side up, among the vegetables, making sure chicken is surrounded by them, but not on top of them. The chicken should rest directly on the baking sheet to cook properly.

Roast your dinner
Roast for 15 minutes at 425 ºF. Then remove the pan from the oven and raise the heat to 450 ºF.

Using a wide spatula, flip vegetables over, but not the chicken. Roast until chicken is cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes longer.

Serve
To serve, top the chicken and vegetables with a spoonful of the onion-vinegar mixture and sprinkle with chopped parsley.