Maple-Glazed Chicken ♥ with Easy Skillet Creamed Carrots & Onions

No more mid-winter supper blues, I've got you covered. Chances are good, you've got everything it takes to make this tonight. So simple! Oven-baked chicken with a maple syrup and rosemary glaze, served alongside carrots and onion cooked together in a skillet. So good! Low Carb and Weight Watchers, you'll love a hearty dinner for just 6 points.

Culinary archeology, that's my new hobby obsession, slowly paging through old issues of Gourmet magazine. Back in December, I started with a stack of Januarys, oldest to newest, looking for easy dinner ideas, wondering if, some 25 years later, the recipes would still appeal.

First up, Gourmet January 1992. The ads collectively profile Gourmet's target readers, a snapshot of a heady time: expensive watches; hotels and travel destinations; wines and liquor; plus one financial service ad with the unfortunate headline, "The unfortunate burden of making money". Gail Zweigenthal's name and face were familiar but required a quick Google search: she preceded Ruth Reichl as editor. The 1992 issue featured Hearty One Pot Dinners, Yosemite in Winter, also collections of rice and hot chocolate recipes. The monthly menu marked the Quincentennial Celebration, 1492 - 1992: it strikes me that in 2016, less than a generation later, this would be deemed culturally insensitive, at best? It was a thrill to find a piece by Barbara Kafka, who'd just lowered her cooktop and butcher block to fit her 5-foot-2 frame. A wave of sadness hit when a Laurie Colwin column appeared, homey boiled beef, yes, another unfortunate word choice but still, Laurie Colwin.

But enough of the culinary artifacts. Did dinner emerge from those pages? Yes! It sure did, and a good one for that very night since the ingredient list was short, all pantry ingredients. The chicken? Excellent. The carrots? Dreamy good! They're so very much like "creamed" carrots but without all the fuss of cooking a white sauce.

QUICK SUPPERS So what's with the chicken, Alanna? First, a Note to Vegetarians. Second, I'm making good on a 2015 promise to deliver more Quick Supper recipes. Some will be vegetarian, others will include animal protein. Remember, from Day One way back in 2005, A Veggie Venture has been the food blog about vegetables, mostly but not exclusively vegetarian or vegan.

RECIPE for MAPLE-ROSEMARY CHICKEN with
EASY SKILLET CREAMED CARROTS & ONIONS

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Serves 6 (easily scaled down for fewer servings)

CHICKEN
1 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken drumsticks (thighs or legs would work too)
Italian seasoning
Dried rosemary, crushed
Salt and pepper

MAPLE-ROSEMARY GLAZE
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon dry rosemary, crumbled
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

CARROTS
1 1/2 pounds whole carrots, peeled & cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon butter, cut in small bits
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt & pepper to taste
1 cup water
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon heavy cream

MAKE IT A MEAL
Fresh kale, cooked like Greek Greens
Fresh rosemary, optional garnish

CHICKEN Set oven to 450F/230C. Line a baking sheet with foil. Pull the skins off the chicken pieces. (This is optional but the calorie differences are big.) Pat dry and season with Italian seasoning and a little rosemary. Bake for 10 minutes on their own.

[If you're making both the chicken and the carrots, get the carrots onto the stove before continuing with the Maple-Rosemary Glaze. This way, the chicken and carrots will finish about the same time.]

MAPLE-ROSEMARY GLAZE In a small saucepan, bring the maple syrup, butter and rosemary to a boil, let simmer for 1 minute. Stir in vinegar.

After the chicken has cooked for 10 minutes on its own, use a silicone brush to brush the top sides of the chicken with the glaze. Bake for 15 minutes, brushing every 5 minutes.

CARROTS In a large heavy skillet, arrange carrots and onions in a single layer. Sprinkle with bits of butter, sugar, salt and pepper. Add water and submerge the fresh rosemary. Bring to a boil and let simmer hard, uncovered, until carrots and onions are cooked. As the water evaporates, watch closely and test to see if the carrots are done, if not add more water a quarter cup at a time. (I haven't needed to add more water but can see it happening.) Once carrots are cooked and water is evaporated, remove the rosemary, turn heat to low and stir in the cream. Taste and adjust seasoning. Leave on low to hold until the chicken is ready to serve.

TO SERVE Arrange kale on half the plate, top with hot chicken with carrots and onions on the side.

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION Adapted from a dusty but still-treasured issue of Gourmet magazine, January 1992.

NUTRITION INFORMATION
Chicken Only, Per Drumstick: 160 Calories; 7g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 64mg Cholesterol; 86mg Sodium; 7g Carb; 0g Fiber; NetCarb7; 6g Sugar; 14g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 4 & PointsPlus 4

Carrots & Onions Only, Per Serving: 81 Calories; 3g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 8mg Cholesterol; 93mg Sodium; 13g Carb; 3g Fiber; NetCarb10; 7g Sugar; 1g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 2

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MORE FAVORITE HEARTY RECIPES with CARROTS

~ Oven-Cooked Lentil Soup ~
~ Vegetable Chili with Sweet Potatoes & Chipotle ~
~ more carrot recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Squash & Carrot Stew ~
~ Chicken Cider Stew ~
~ Sweet ‘n’ Hot Chicken ~
~ more main dish recipes with carrots ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

SEASONAL EATING: THIS SAME WEEK ACROSS THE YEARS

This I Dare: Food Challenges for 2006 Watercress Sandwiches with Chili-Lime Butter LeAnne’s Veggie Soup Daikon & Pepper Salad Cucumber & Watercress Relish Cheesy Artichoke Nibblers Watercress Soup Weight Watchers Zero Points Garden Vegetable Soup Mashed Turnip & Apple Meet the Yam Man Quick 'Massaged' Kale Salad (< this week's favorite!) Ugly But Delicious Tofu for the Slow Cooker Weight Watchers Fresh Vegetable Soup How to Cook Sweet Potatoes in a Slow Cooker Vegetable Chili with Sweet Potatoes & Chipotle Vegetables 101: What Are Root Vegetables?

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

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