Easy weeknight dinners start with sheet pans

BY Betty Williams

I recently had a conversation about cooking with a new acquaintance. She mentioned that she enjoys cooking for holidays, special occasions and birthday dinners but not so much for everyday meals.

This surprised me. Cooking for special meals always seems more high-pressure to me. If you flub Wednesday night’s pot roast it’s not a huge deal. But if you screw up the turkey on Thanksgiving, everyone’s mad and will let you know about it.

Granted, cooking dinner every night of the week can be a grind. But I have a secret to share with you that will make your weeknights easier and it consists of two words: sheet pan.

You may be wondering, what is a sheet pan? Actually, it’s a half-sheet pan that measures 13 x 18 inches and is made of steel or heavy aluminum. A full sheet pan is used in restaurants and commercial bakeries and is too large for a home oven.

These heavy duty half-sheet pans are rimmed, large, and flat. They can be purchased for around $10 a piece. I own three and use them almost every day. They are perfect for roasting, baking and sometimes carting items from one side of the kitchen to the other.

But the real reason to own a sheet pan? So you can make sheet pan dinners any night of the week. These consist of a protein, a starch and a vegetable all cooked on the same pan at the same time. Genius!

An important detail in making the sheet pan supper work is the timing of all the ingredients. There are a couple of ways to make it so that everything will be done at the same time.

The first way is to start with the longest cooking ingredient, then add ingredients with shorter cooking times in progression. For instance, you could start with whole baking potatoes or other dense root vegetables.

When those are halfway done, add a protein like chicken or pork chops. And when the chicken is almost done, add a quick cooking green vegetable like kale or spinach.

The second way to do a sheet pan dinner is to choose ingredients with similar cooking times, like fresh green beans and salmon fillets, and place them all on the sheet and stick it in the oven. They will be done at the same time. It’s easy and no babysitting is required.

And just because everything is on the same pan doesn’t mean everything has to taste exactly the same. Don’t want your veggies to taste like the pesto you slathered on the drumsticks? Pile the veggies off to the side and season them with salt and pepper.

This week’s recipe is from The New York Times cooking section and is an easy weeknight dinner with just five ingredients that bakes in 30 minutes. It is delicious as is, but you can play around with other spices to make it your own creation.

Photo by Betty Williams

Sheet Pan Chicken with Potatoes and Scallions

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6

• 12 scallions (green onions)
• 3 Yukon Gold potatoes
• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 2 Tbsp. capers
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450. Line a 13 x 18 rimmed baking sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Rinse and trim the root ends off the scallions. Place the scallions on the prepared baking sheet. Thinly slice the potatoes and layer evenly on top of the scallions. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and place on top of the potatoes. Bake at 450 for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, mix capers with lemon juice. Add any pan juices from the chicken to the caper lemon juice mixture and stir. Pour mixture over the chicken and serve.