DANCING IN THE SHEETS
Two sheet pan suppers that are low on labor and high on flavor!
AU: The group Shalamar may have totally ripped off Prince in their 1984 hit “Dancing in the Sheets,” but the song still slaps. Alas, we’re not here to talk about the incredible body of work that is the “Footloose” soundtrack, instead we’re here to give you two INCREDIBLE and EASY weeknight dinner ideas… (And hi, obvi they’re both on sheet pans).
EK: Sheet Pan…just add that phrase to a recipe and people look up from whatever they are doing and pay attention. It’s what “Instant Pot” used to be. I even saw a sheet pan salad on Instagram last weekend! And, why not? If you can make a salad in a Pyrex casserole dish—lookin’ at you, seven-layer salad—I guess you can make it in a sheet pan. Bye, bye bowls! :)
AU: I don’t know if I’d go that far, EK, but you know I love a sheet pan dinner, too! If you missed it, try out my Sheet Pan Gnocchi “Amatriciana” recipe from January, and take a look at our sheet pan primer by clicking the link below.
WHAT’S 4 DINNER?: SHEET PAN SHRIMP “STIR FRY”
AU: I don’t know about you, but I go through moments of great ambition in the kitchen followed by moments of great lethargy. This recipe is for those days when you just… don’t… feel… like it. We all have ‘em! And instead of ordering a triple-stuffed carnitas burrito that will make you feel like total shit for the next two days (hello, me), you could literally throw this together in mere minutes and serve it over rice or noodles and negate any of that shame or self-inflicted bodily harm.
It’s pretty straight-forward: mix together a sauce in a big bowl, toss in some shrimp and veg, throw it on a sheet pan, and let ‘er rip under the broiler for about 5 minutes. THAT’S IT!
The sauce is a combo of gochujang, honey, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce (not pictured here—sorry, I forgot it), ginger, and garlic. Gochujang—a fermented Korean chili paste—can be spicy. While the honey in the recipe tames the spice level for adult palates, if you’re making this for kiddoes who are spice-adverse, you may want to just go with a bottled sauce like Soy Vay or one of Trader Joe’s umpteen different prepared sauces.
Notes on other ingredientses:*
Gochujang - Gochujang is a spicy fermented chili paste from Korea. It’s got a great funkiness to it and nothing tastes like it. I love the stuff and use it all the time. It’s worth finding at your grocery store or online, if you don’t have it.
Shrimp - Size matters here. Go with “Jumbo” or bigger. Otherwise, you’ll have rubbery, overcooked shrimp. I always look for uncooked peeled and deveined, so I don’t have to do it myself. I always have a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer. They are truly a convenience food, because they thaw in less than 15 mins and cook in no time. Not sure what the numbers mean? Gotchu:
Jumbo = 21-30 shrimp per pound
Extra Jumbo = 16-20 shrimp per pound (often sold as just “16/20 Shrimp”)
Colossal = Under 15 per pound (often sold as “U-15 Shrimp”)
Green Beans - Not to be all fancy (that’s just who I am), but haricot vert are the shiz. These are the thin, pencil-like green beans that the French love in a Salade Nicoise. I like ‘em because they cook quickly. If you buy green beans that are thicker than a pencil, you’ll probably want to boil/blanch them before they go on the sheet pan (which kinda defeats the whole purpose of the recipe, doesn’t it?).
Bell Peppers - I loathe a green bell pepper, which is why I use one red or one orange bell pepper here. If you’re feeling fancy (and you KNOW I always am) use half of each color in the recipe to make it festive AF. The key is to cut them the same thickness as your green beans, so they cook evenly.
Toasted Sesame Oil - “Sesame oil” and “TOASTED sesame oil” are two different things. Yes, both are sesame oils, but the toasted variety should be used sparingly as it’s v v potent. Just a teaspoon or two will do ya here.
*If you don’t understand that I’m referencing the RHONJ icon Teresa Giudice here, then we can’t be friends.
Mix together all the sauce ingredients, then toss the green beans, peppers, and shrimp until they’re well-coated. Arrange on a foil-lined sheet pan in a single layer, and then broil for 4-5 minutes. When the shrimp look done (that is they’ve curled into the letter “C” and not “O”), pull them immediately, as they’ll continue cooking for a bit. Let the veggies continue to broil until they’re sufficiently charred in spots to your liking.
Sheet Pan Shrimp “Stir Fry”
This recipe cooks in less than 7 minutes. Yes, you read that right. In fact, it will probably take your oven longer to preheat than it will for you to assemble the whole meal. This recipe was designed for laziness (we like that here), for as few dishes as possible, and for a high-flavor reward with very little work. If you’re making this for more than 2 people, double the recipe and cook in two batches. Look for shrimp that are “Jumbo” (21-30 per pound) or “Super Jumbo” (16-20 per pound), anything smaller will cook in half the time listed below.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1-2 Tablespoons Gochujang (depending on taste)
2 Tablespoons Soy sauce or Tamari
2 Tablespoons Honey or Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil
1 Tablespoon grated or minced Ginger (from a 3” piece)
4 Cloves of Garlic, grated or minced
3 Scallions, sliced thinly; whites and greens separated
1 pound jumbo Shrimp, peeled & deveined
1/2 pound (8 ounces) Haricot Vert or thin green beans
1 small Bell Pepper, sliced into strips the same size as green beans
Cooking spray
Toasted Sesame Seeds, for garnish
White rice or Noodles, for serving
Method:
Move an oven rack to about 6” below your broiler (if your broiler is in a drawer below the oven, skip this step). Preheat the broiler on high (500ºF) while you prepare the other ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, combine gochujang, soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil. Grate ginger and garlic over the mixture, and whisk together until smooth-ish and emulsified. Add in white and light green parts of the scallions (reserving the dark green parts for garnish).
Toss sliced bell peppers, green beans, and shrimp in the sauce until well-coated. Spray a foil-lined baking sheet lightly with cooking spray. Using tongs, arrange the mixture in an even layer on the baking sheet, leaving behind any excess marinade.
Once oven has preheated, broil until the shrimp are cooked through, about 4-5 minutes (depending on size and temperature of the shrimp when you place in the oven). If shrimp are cooked before vegetables become charred in spots, remove them to a plate and continue cooking the vegetables 2-3 minutes longer.
Spoon portions over rice or noodles, and garnish with reserved scallions and sesame seeds.
WHAT’S 4 DINNER?: BUTTERFLIED SHEET PAN CHICKEN
EK: Who doesn’t love a winner, winner chicken dinner? Today, I’m sharing a roast chicken recipe that I make frequently—it’s a great way to use up a stale baguette and it’s easy to switch up the vegetables based on what you have on hand. My core recipe calls for chicken, bread, garlic, and carrots, shallots and potatoes. The chicken, garlic and bread are the anchors of the recipe, and you can add any of your favorite vegetables that benefit from roasting.
You can also make this dinner in a cast iron skillet if you don’t have a sheet pan.
I even made it in a cheapo skillet when I was in France this fall—see photo above—with potatoes and olives because that was what I had. The house that we were staying in only had one large skillet and no sheet pan, and the meal was none the wiser! The legend of French chickens did not disappoint and it was one of the simplest and best meals of the trip—restaurants included!
When I use a sheet pan [as opposed to a skillet], I butterfly the chicken because I have ample room and it takes less time to cook. After you butterfly a chicken once, you’ll realize that it is actually very easy to do. I use a good pair of kitchen scissors and it’s really more like a craft project than butchering. For those of you looking for a great pair of scissors, my favorite are these 8-inch Take-Apart Kitchen Shears by Messermeister. I love that you can take them apart and put them in the dishwasher.
Butterfly chicken by referring to the photos and following the steps below:
Place chicken breast-side down, with the tail away from you.
Using kitchen or poultry shears*, cut as close to the keel bone (backbone) as possible.
Turn chicken around and using the tail as a guide, cut on the outside of the tail straight down the back of the chicken.
Remove the backbone, it will be about ½-inch wide and as long as the chicken
Turn chicken over and press firmly into the center of the breast.
The chicken will flatten out and will open like a book.
Twist the wing tips so that the tip is under the upper wing.
Sheet Pan Roast Chicken with Crunchy Garlic Bread, Potatoes, Carrots and Shallots
This is one of those soul satisfying recipes that makes your house smell divine and brings comfort year ‘round. It is also a great recipe for using bits and bobs of onions, potatoes, cauliflower—any vegetable—that takes about an hour to cook. You could also make it with the bread and garlic and serve sautéed spinach on the side.
Ingredients:
1 baguette, cut in half
1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), butterflied
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon dried herbes de provence, plus more if needed
Freshly ground white pepper
1 small bag of baby potatoes, cleaned
2 heads of garlic, tops cut off
5 large shallots, peeled
4 carrots, peeled and chunked
Butterfly chicken by following the steps below:
Place chicken breast-side down, with the tail away from you.
Using kitchen or poultry shears*, cut as close to the keel bone (backbone) as possible.
Turn chicken around and using the tail as a guide, cut on the outside of the tail straight down the back of the chicken.
Remove the backbone, it will be about ½-inch wide and as long as the chicken
Turn chicken over and press firmly into the center of the breast.
The chicken will flatten out and will open like a book.
Twist the wing tips so that the tip is under the upper wing.
Method:
Pour olive oil over chicken and massage to coat all over and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Cut both pieces of the baguette in half lengthwise as if you were slicing it to make a sandwhich. Drizzle the cut side with olive oil. Place the bread next to each other on the parchment paper cut side down so that it will get nice and toasty as the chicken cooks. You will have four slices of the bread crust-side up touching each other.
Set the chicken on top of the bread. Season the chicken generously with about ¼ of the salt and Herbes de Provence.
Toss the potatoes, shallots and carrots in olive oil and season with the rest of the salt and herbs until they are well coated .
Place the vegetables around the chicken on the sheet pan. Make sure the ingredients are spread evenly apart in one-later—no overlapping for optimum browning.
Place the foil wrapped garlic bulbs in two of the corners—see recipe below.
Roast until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through, 50-65 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces. Test the chicken using an instant-read meat thermometer; the chicken should be 160F for the white meat and 180F for the dark meat. If the chicken and the potatoes are cooked through, but not brown enough, turn on the broiler and let broil for 3-5 minutes to brown.
Remove from oven and let chicken and potatoes rest on the sheet pan. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes.
Serve immediately with the roasted vegetables and spread roasted garlic over the toasted bread. Drizzle with more olive oil and a pinch of finishing salt if desired.
Roasted Garlic: This is one of those pantry items that make almost any recipe better. Substitute roasted garlic for raw garlic for a more mellow flavor. In most recipes that call for garlic, you can substitute roasted garlic for a sweeter, deeper flavor.When you are roasting one head, go ahead and make a few more, it keeps in the fridge for at least one weeks.
1 head garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
Pinch of salt
Remove first layer of papery skin from garlic. Slice off top ½-inch from pointy top. Drizzle with olive oil.
Wrap in foil and roast for 40-60 minutes or until cloves are golden-brown and soft. Let cool.
Follow recipe instructions, but in almost all cases, eat immediately with crusty bread, or remove the roasted cloves from their skin and place in an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
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That’s it for this week! As always, if you make our recipes, tag us on the ‘gram (@kitchensitch & @elizabethkarmel), and use the hashtag #whats4dinner. Happy cooking!!