Roasted Chicken with Tomatoes & Olives

Sometimes chicken is just chicken, and that’s okay. But sometimes you want something a little different. Sometimes you can put herbs, a marinade or a sauce in, on, or with the chicken to jazz it up a bit. Sometimes it does the trick, while sometimes it still tastes like plain old chicken. This recipe is quite nice, because to me, it’s different. It’s still chicken, but different.

Roasted chicken with Tomatoes & Olives         serves 4      (from Real Simple March 2010)

Zest and juice from one lemon
2 pints grape tomatoes
1 head garlic, cloves separated
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tbs olive oil
3 lbs chicken, cut/pieces you prefer
Salt and pepper
½ cup dry white wine
In roasting pan Toss tomatoes, garlic cloves, olives, thyme, and lemon zest with 1 tbs of olive oil. Set the chicken amongst the vegetables and drizzle the remaining oil on top. Season everything with some salt and pepper. Roast until the chicken is done. Remove the chicken from the pan. Add the lemon juice and wine to the roasting pan and stir, scraping up any little bits on the pan. Serve the chicken with vegetables and a little gluten-free bread to sop up the juices if you like.
*You can peel the garlic cloves or leave them in their skins. The choice is yours.