Roasted chicken is a staple meal for many of us. It can also get boring when we make it the same. way. every. time. (SNORE)

Enter new flavors! The simple solution to cooking boredom. I found a recipe for Larb to deal with my excess of butternut squash. Then applied the same scrumptious Thai flavors to chicken breast, roasted both together and we had a bomb-a$$ meal in about an hour. So, pro tip – when dinner feels a little monotonous, you can keep your star ingredients and techniques, but tweak the flavors to re-imagine dinner in a whole new way. YAY!!

I went with skin-on, bone-in chicken here mainly because it was 1/8 of the price of boneless/skinless. As an added bonus, bones and skin add extra flavor goodies into the cooking process. If you’re working on decreasing fat intake, remove the skin after cooking. And, become a food maximizing champion by saving the bones for (FREE) homemade chicken stock. It’s easy and delicious and you control the ingredients.

Servings: 6| Difficulty: Easy | Prep: 10 min | Cook: 65 min

Calories: 299 | Protein: 52g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 2g

Ingredients

• 4.25 lb bone-in chicken breast (or 3 lb boneless/skinless)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 inches fresh ginger root
• 3 tbsp fresh cilantro
• 3 tbsp fresh mint
• 1 tbsp lemongrass paste
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 lime – zest and juice
• 2 tsp
• 2 tsp Sriracha sauce
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Create the marinade. I used a small food processor. You could use this, a blender, or finely mince/chop all the ingredients. Place the garlic, ginger, cilantro, mint, lemongrass paste, Sriracha sugar, salt, and lime zest and juice, and olive oil into the processor. Blend until it creates a soupy paste.

Smear the paste all over the chicken, including underneath the skin. Place chicken on a baking sheet. ( I left one chicken plain to allow for some doggy treats and use for a salad topper).

Roast until internal temperature reaches 165. That should be about 65min if using bone-in chicken and 35 -40 if using boneless/skinless.

Remove chicken from the oven and let rest for a few minutes before serving. I recommend pairing this with the roasted veggie Larb recipe for a balanced and absolutely delicious meal.