Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters, the Greek Way

Tonight we had one of our favorite, super easy dinners: roasted chicken leg quarters and potatoes. It takes about an hour to cook, but under 10 minutes to throw together.  When I was young, we had this meal (but with a whole bird) once a week. I alway stole the drumsticks. So, since I don’t roast whole chickens all that often, I pick the best part of them–the dark meat, of course–to roast for the two of us.

This isn’t really a recipe, but a method. Trust me, you don’t need a recipe. It will taste great, so long as you make it to your personal tastes! And there is no beating this type of roasted potato. I promise.

First, peel and quarter (or eighth) the potatoes (I use 2 small or 1 large russet). Then, add some extra virgin olive oil and the juice of half a large lemon to a baking dish. Add the potatoes and the chicken leg quarters to the baking dish, and turn them around to coat them with the oil and lemon juice. Then, add salt, pepper and dried oregano to the chicken and potatoes. I am very heavy-handed with all of these things, but especially the oregano. Flip them, and salt, pepper & oregano the other sides (keep them skin side up). Add about 1/3 cup of chicken broth to the pan (so it just covers the bottom of the pan, about 1/4″ or so standing). Squeeze the rest of the lemon over the whole thing. Bake it for about 50 minutes at 400*. Check on it 1-2 times to add chicken broth as necessary or baste the chicken with the juices.

For the last 12 minutes the chicken was cooking, I threw some asparagus in the oven. On a baking sheet, just toss the spears in a little olive oil, add some salt and pepper and roast for 10-15 minutes depending on how done you want them. This is the cooking method that started my love affair with asparagus.