roast chicken & carrots with olives & lemon

the other night, brad called me from the airport. his plane had landed and it was on time, but he couldn't find his car. i did what any good wife would do: i laughed. but here's something i didn't do: panic about the dinner i made him getting cold (sometimes i get hung up on stuff like this. i'm working on it). this is a perfect thing to make during these periods of "transitional" weather, when you don't know if you want a hot or a cold or an in between.

roast chicken & carrots with olives & lemon
ingredients for dinner for two:

• two very fresh chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on)
• two extra large carrots, peeled & cut into like size sticks (or 4-5 regular-sized carrots)
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled & smashed
• 2 lemons, cut in wedges
• 1/4 cup pitted manzanilla olives
• olive oil
• cumin, salt, pepper, bay leaves to taste

first, season the chicken liberally with cumin, salt & pepper. then sear the chicken skinside-down in a dry nonstick skillet until skin is golden brown. meanwhile, toss the lemons, garlic, carrots, & olives in 1 T. olive oil, season with 1/2 tsp. of each spice. place in baking dish, then nestle the chicken in with vegetables. cover, bake for 20-25 minutes at 350. uncover, cook for 15 minutes until vegetables and chicken are done & starting to brown. squeeze some roasted lemon over chicken before serving hot or warm or room temperature.

in the end, brad did find his car. he came back. i was very glad about all of this and we enjoyed this dinner at room temperature with cold white wine and warm brown rice.

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