ONE PAN OVEN-ROASTED CHICKEN FEAST

I remember my mother often made chicken in the oven surrounded by potatoes, onions, and whatever other vegetables were available--sometimes peppers, sometimes spinach. Looking through my copy of Skinny Italian by RHONJ Teresa Giudice, I happened upon her take on this Italian classic. I decided to try her version, but deviated a bit in the method of preparation. What follows is a recipe for 6 servings using a combination of Teresa's and my approach to this homey meal.

For the chicken:
Six 6-oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup white wine (I used my leftover Mateus)
1/4 cup EVOO
2 tsp dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed hot pepper

Lightly pound each chicken breast until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Whisk the wine, oil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper in a 13X9 inch glass dish. Add the chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 1/4 hours (no longer or you'll have mushy chicken).

While the chicken marinates, prepare the vegetables.

For the vegetables:
9 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
6 large carrots, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
1 tbs EVOO
4 ripe plum tomatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
2 medium onions, sliced into 1/4 inch half moons
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley

Toss the potatoes, onions, and carrots with the oil in a large bowl. Place them in the roasting pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

To finish:
Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Scatter the tomatoes over the vegetables in the pan, add the salt and pepper, and toss together. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade and arrange them in the pan on top of the vegetables. Pour the marinade over all. Return to the oven and bake until the chicken is opaque when pierced in the center, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve hot.
******************************
TASTE NOTES
You'll be looking at the clock while this dish finishes and the smells become impossible to ignore. Confirmed lovers of dark meat, DSO and I both loved this chicken. It was so moist and flavorful thanks, in part, to that marinade. Adding the onions in the beginning made more sense than adding them with the tomatoes, but what I'll be sure to do next time is uncover the vegetables after 30 minutes to allow them to carmelize a bit. Yes, there will be a next time. At 510 calories (49g carb, 16 g fat, 7 g fiber, 45 g protein), this is a healthy as well as delicious one pan meal.