Pan Roasted Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Green Beans and Potatoes

I don't generally believe in New Years Resolutions. They seem like empty words half-heartedly enacted for about a month or so until forgotten. At least that's what it seems like to me. We shouldn't need New Years Resolutions as motivations to change our lives, but this year I decided to try it out and see what all the hype is about. My New Years Resolution for 2013 is to cook, make, bake, grill, and/or fry at least one new dish every single week. That makes for at least 52 new foods and recipes. It'll be an interesting year and I can't promise that everything will taste good, but I'm hoping it will at least be edible. Hence, My Almost Edible Year.

For my very first meal this year, I decided to make Pan Roasted Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Green Beans and Potatoes, served on a bed of parmesan couscous, a slightly modified version of the recipe found on Real Simple (http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pan-roasted-chicken-lemon-garlic-green-beans-10000000780291/index.html) for me and my parents on my last day at home before returning to college.

My modified recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

Half a lemon

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup wine

3/4 pound trimmed green beans

3 russett potatoes, cubed

3 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)

1 box parmesan couscous

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, salt, 1 tsp pepper, and wine and toss to coat. Leave to marinate for at least an hour, and up to 24 hours. 

2. Set a small saucepan on the stove to boil. Add the green beans and a pinch of salt to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Immediately remove and wash with cold water.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, 1 tsp pepper, and the juice of half a lemon and whisk to combine. Add the potatoes and green beans to the olive oil mixture and toss to coat. Arrange the vegetables on the bottom of a large baking dish and bake at 375ºF for 15 minutes.

4. After 15 minutes, add the chicken to the top of the vegetables and pour the rest of the marinade over the chicken and vegetables. Roast for 45 minutes. Cook couscous as directed on the box and divide chicken and vegetables equally among 3 serving plates. Serve warm. 

I have to say it was a solid start for the new year! The chicken was moist and lemony, with a very mild and delicate flavor. The potatoes and green beans were soft, but still had bite to them and the couscous paired well with the lemon flavor. The most nerve-wracking part was staring at the chicken through the small oven window, wondering if it was leathery and dry or still raw in the middle. When we finally pulled it out, I had to cut a slice just to make sure it was done (you can see the cut on the first image of the chicken up close). One down, 51 more to go!