Month-of-One-Pan Meals: Za'atar Chicken Chunks with Veggies

Welcome to my annual Month-of Recipes on this blog. Go rummaging in the attic here and you’ll find past recipe months for appetizers, chicken, soup, mini-desserts, and more. The way it works is, for each day in February I post a recipe that fits the category. This month is one-pan meals, excluding pizza, most casseroles, and slow cooker recipes.

Za’atar, pronounced zay’-ter, is a seasoning spice mixture used in Middle Eastern cooking as a condiment. Regional variants are sometimes a closely-guarded family secret. Generally za'atar contains sesame seed, thyme, oregano, and marjoram as the base for additions such as savory, cumin, coriander, fennel seed, sumac berries, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, rosebuds, and caraway. Pretty much what you want it to be, right?

Some nights you need like a flash dinner, you know. And chopping food into smaller chunks is your greatest secret for making that happen. This recipe comes together for a very fast weeknight dinner. Prep is just a few minutes and can be done ahead and refrigerated for roasting later. Serves three-ish. The only carbs are from the veggies, and you know how little that is! Eat as much as you want guilt-free.

Also, you can use the same technique with different seasonings to make different meals. So roast up a second pan at the same time and have it ready to serve for a super-fast dinner later in the week. This is a really versatile pan meal. You can make two pans at the same time. Eat one for dinner tonight and use the other pan in a different dinner later in the week.

This recipe uses za’atar, but try other seasonings. You could use cumin and make soft tacos from the other pan. Or seasoned with cumin, toss into a pot with diced, seasoned tomatoes for a quick chili. Or toss the veggies and chicken with salt and pepper, make a quick chicken gravy to mix in and serve over noodles for a super-fast meal later in the week. This is a wonderful combo that can be used in myriad ways.

Za’atar Roasted Chicken Chunks and Veggies (serves 3-4)

1 large breast (or two medium)

1 teaspoon salt, divided

1 teaspoon pepper, divided

2 tablespoons Za’atar seasoning (or Italian, tarragon, cumin etc.), divided

1 bell pepper, cut into strips

½ cup onion, sliced

1 cup mushrooms

1 zucchini, cut into coins

1 cup cauliflower florets

1 cup broccoli florets

½ cup grape or cherry tomatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil.

Prepare a large zipper bag with 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon za’atar (or other seasoning). Add ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Moosh to combine.

Cube the chicken in bite-size pieces. Add in chicken chunks and massage to coat. Remove from bag, put on a plate, and cover to refrigerate until ready to cook.

Add remaining oil, za’atar, salt, and pepper to same zipper bag. Mush to combine. Chop vegetables into big chunks. Add to bag and massage to coat.

Arrange chicken on baking sheet and put the vegetables all around the chicken chunks. Drizzle any remaining oil mixture in the zipper bag on the pan ingredients.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables show char marks and the chicken is done. Serve immediately.

DH’s Rating: almost 4 Tongues Up

Believe it or not, he made himself a salad to go with this veggie-heavy meal! What can I say? Anyway, he noted that this was a spice he didn’t recognize. I explained what it is and that he’ll be tasting it in a variety or upcoming recipes. He thought it was fine, but not something he’d request necessarily. He doesn’t do change well. He might have liked it more over rice, but this is a one-pan meal. I thought it was an interesting dish and one I will make again.