Roasty Caramelly Goodness

For dinner tonight I revisited a recipe trial from a while back. It originally appeared in Real Simple (with just sweet potatoes and onions--I'm sure just about any root vegetable combination would work), and I've modified a little to suit my family.

Maple-Glazed Roast Chicken and Root Vegetables

3 small garnet "yams," peeled and cut into two-inch chunks
4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
2 small shallots, cut into wedges
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 T olive oil
3 T maple syrup (real stuff only, please)
kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Put cut vegetables into baking dish, and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper to coat. Put chicken breasts on top, skin side up, and season them a little with olive oil, salt and pepper as well. Then drizzle maple syrup over all. Bake at 400 degrees for an hour and a quarter, stirring vegetables once (I skipped this step tonight and was wishing I hadn't--it ensures the vegetables cook evenly and are well coated with the sauce).

The shallots, especially, turned out yummy. They were smaller than the potatoes or sweet potatoes, so they slipped down to the bottom of the pan where they could caramelize in the syrup and oil. Basically they tasted like onion candy.

Served with steamed broccoli and cauliflower, though a green salad would work very well if that's what your eaters will eat. And d'oh! I forgot the fruit salad, even though I had on hand a kid-pleasing combination of strawberries, kiwi and banana.