Chicken and Winter Veg Tray Bake

A delicious hearty dinner perfect for the upcoming chilly season. The cooking of the vegetables are done in two stages as they have differing cooking times, but the extra effort will be worth it. We have made extra effort to bring the overall calories down and still maximise on flavour and texture. I would normally do this dish with pork chops, but lean chicken breasts work just as well, as we have done here.

Ingredients

• 120g butternut, cut into 3cm equal-size chunks
• 120g sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3cm equal-size chunks
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1 large courgette, trimmed and cut into equal-size chunks
• 1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut into 1cm rounds
• 4 shallots, peeled and halved
• 2 chicken breasts, skinless and deboned
• 1 TB wholegrain mustard
• 1 tsp runny honey
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2-3 sprigs of thyme, picked leaves to garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
2. Place the butternut and sweet potato chunks into a large bowl and drizzle over 2 teaspoons olive oil. Toss well to evenly coat. Spread them out onto a large roasting tray and place in the oven for 20 minutes.
3. In those 20 minutes, place the courgette, parsnips and onions to the same bowl the butternut and sweet potato was oiled in and toss well to coat in the residual oil still present in the bowl. Make superficial slices into one side of both chicken breasts, then heat one teaspoon olive oil in a clean pan and grill the chicken (sliced-side down) until golden brown over high heat, approximately. 2-3 minutes. Turn the breasts over using tongs and remove the pan from the heat to prevent them cooking them any further. (This step is only to brown the surface of the breasts.)
4. After the butternut and sweet potato chunks have cooked for 20 minutes, remove the tray from the oven and reduce the oven to 180°C. Add the courgette, parsnips and onions to the roasting pan, along with the chicken breasts (browned-side up) and spread everything out evenly so there is no overcrowding. Return the roasting tray to the oven for 20 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together one teaspoon olive oil with the wholegrain mustard and honey. After the second 20 minutes of cooking, brush this mixture over the chicken and drizzle the remaining mixture over the vegetables, tossing them a little to evenly coat, then return the tray to the oven for 5 additional minutes.
6. Test that all vegetables are cooked through and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve garnished with picked thyme leaves.