Laziest Chicken Dish Ever

This dish is a dream come true for people who can't cook but want to impress other people that they can. hah..hah..hah...No lah, I am not insulting anybody, OK? Just sharing a dish which I think is very suitable for lazy people. Again, no insults intended.

What I am trying to say is that this chicken dish is cooked with minimal preparation. No cooking skills required. You basically just chuck the whole lot of chicken and some vegetables into the oven and leave them there for some 90 minutes. It's a slow cooked dish and you only do this if you are not in a hurry to eat.

I attempted this dish last year and I thought that I should revisit it. The last time, I used basil and this time I used rosemary. Honestly, I did not really like the herbs in this particular dish.

There is no marination required. Just place your chicken parts in a single layer on a baking dish and arrange cherry tomatoes, garlic or any vegetables (that can stand long cooking) you fancy, in between the chicken pieces. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle generously with olive oil. Then bake in the oven at 160C for 90 minutes. While all that is going on, you can go and do whatever you like.

This dish has a very mild flavor. Of course it is tasty as the chicken is moist and tender with crispy skin. The tomatoes and garlic become soft and sweet and impart a subtle flavor to the dish. But I reckon people who prefer prefer stronger flavours may find this dish rather uninteresting.

I guess you could marinate the chicken or use some spice seasoning to perk things up a bit but that would defeat the purpose as there is supposed to be minimal preparation, remember? I decided to stay with the original recipe and learn to enjoy simple clean flavours. 

The third time I made this dish, I omitted the herbs and added sweet peppers and red onions. I loved the soft mushy tomatoes, onions, peppers and garlic which imparted wonderful flavours to this dish. Though it was quite subtle compared to the spicy dishes that I am more accustomed too, I enjoyed it very much.

Having something simple and straightforward like this sure beats having to peel, pound and saute ingredients and spice pastes. Sometimes, keeping things simple is the best thing to do.

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Crispy Baked Chicken

Recipe source : Adapted from Jamie's Home Cooking Skills

Ingredients :

- 4 chicken whole chicken legs

- cherry tomatoes

- 1 whole bulb of garlic, crushed with skin on
- 1 big onion, sliced

- 2 sweet peppers, sliced

- olive oil

- salt and pepper

Method :

1. Salt and pepper the chicken legs.

2. Arrange chicken legs in a single layer in a baking dish.

3. Place the cherry tomatoes, garlic, onions and sweet peppers in between or at the bottom of the chicken legs.

4. Give the chicken a good generous splash of olive oil and bake the dish at 160C for 90 minutes. 
5. Serve immediately with salad, rice or pasta.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe.