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Don’t get cross with me now, but this recipe actually calls for TWO sheet pans. Am I a fraud? Does this still count as a sheet pan meal? As usual I only have your best interests at heart. I want you to use two sheet pans so that your dinner cooks evenly. Sheet pan meals work best when their contents are spread out evenly in one layer. That’s how the most even cooking happens! If you have the largest sheet pan in all of history and you can fit the chicken, beans, and potatoes all on one pan, more power to you. Go for it!

Mike and I finally got out for our first real hike of 2020 last weekend! It was our second year in a row doing this exact hike and we beat last year’s time by a whopping 2.5 minutes! Seeing as we haven’t set foot in a gym in over two months and we’ve both been having some problems running this year, I’m surprised we even came close to last year’s time never mind beat it. The hike we did was a 14 miler (roughly 9.5 mile hike/trail run followed by a 4.5 mile run on the road) out in Salisbury, CT. I love going out there because it’s such a beautiful part of the state. I don’t see any other place in the state that is quite like it. It’s an extremely wealthy community and oddly it’s exactly what I think of when I think of stereotypical Connecticut. You know those heart signs you see out in the world these days that have inspirational messages on them like “THANK YOU HEROES” or “THANK YOU ESSENTIAL WORKERS.”? Well in Salisbury they have signs that say “BANK PERSONNEL – THANK YOU.” If that’s not the most Connecticut thing I’ve ever seen then I don’t know what is.

So now that that hike is behind me, I also like to do Seven Sisters in central MA. These two hikes really prepare me for our tougher summer hikes in the Whites and Adirondacks. The total elevation gain of the Seven Sisters hike is about the same as the Salisbury hike, 2,500′ or so, but Seven Sisters is a bit shorter at 9 miles total. I did this hike with my friend Summer Rain and her dog Cooper last year. The halfway/turnaround point is a nice mountaintop park called the Summit House, a beautiful old building from the 1850’s that originally opened as an inn. The structure itself is beautiful and there are wonderful views surrounding the house as well. It’s truly a treat to hike and something I look forward to doing every year. I was thinking about doing it this past weekend since we had a long weekend, but I decided to stay local instead. Mike and I are fortunate that we live relatively close to some athletic fields. Whenever I can’t make up my mind about what kind of workout I want to do, I head for the fields. It’s two miles each way to the fields. I always run at least half of those four miles, and once I get to the track I do a quick HIIT workout. I love the variety and the nice weather and longer days finally have me not missing the gym so much these days. Oh nice. That only took three months.

Did you do anything big or exciting over the long weekend? Or were you pretty much a hermit like me?

thehungryhungryhiker

Italian Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner

Tender, juicy, flavorful chicken breast oven baked alongside roasted potatoes and garlic green beans.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Marinating Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 + ½ lbs red or gold potatoes scrubbed clean and dried completely, chopped to 1" chunks
  • 12 ounces green beans ends trimmed if necessary
  • 1-2 tbsp avocado oil
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • sea salt to taste
For the marinade:
  • 3 tbsp avocado oil
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • ½ lemon, juiced
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried marjoram
  • ½ tsp dried rosemary
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper

Method
 

  1. Place the chicken breasts in a gallon zipper bag. Add all of the marinade ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk with a fork to combine. Pour the marinade over the chicken breasts and use your hands to massage the marinade over the chicken to coat completely. Zip the bag closed, place on a plate or shallow dish, and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.
  2. Arrange the racks in your oven so that there are two racks in the center positions in the oven. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line one large sheet pan and one medium sheet pan with parchment paper.
  3. Use tongs to remove each chicken breast individually from the marinade bag, shaking off the excess, and place in the center of the large sheet pan. Add the potato chunks to the marinade bag and use your hands to massage the marinade into the potato chunks. Pour the potato chunks out onto the large sheet pan around the chicken breasts, keeping everything in a single layer. Put the sheet pan on the top rack of the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes.
  4. Pour the green beans out onto the medium sheet pan. Pour 1-2 tbsp avocado oil, 3-4 crushed garlic cloves, and sea salt to taste over the green beans. Use tongs to toss the beans to coat with the oil, garlic, and salt. When the oven timer goes off, place the green beans on the bottom rack. Set the oven timer for 20 minutes.
  5. When the time is up, remove both sheet pans from the oven. Dinner is ready when the beans and potatoes are fork tender and the chicken reads 165° F on a meat thermometer when inserted. Distribute to plates, serve hot, and enjoy!