The other night I wanted to make a quick dinner because my kids had a bunch of activities and my husband was not coming home. A recipe came to mind that I had made years ago so I figured I would give it a try. The original recipe comes from Giada De Laurentiis. On this particular night, I did not have time to take the recipe as far as she did and I honestly do not think it is necessary. I had made this complete recipe before and did not taste a difference between her version and my version. I am going to give you my version, but you can see the original recipe here.

You can make this recipe with a whole cut up chicken or with 8 drumsticks. I made drumsticks because primarily kids were eating the chicken and they love eating the chicken off the drumstick bone. If you want to use more drumsticks, just double the marinade.  I threw the chicken legs in a bag with the marinade for a few hours, you can do this in the morning or the night before, and then baked for 50 minutes. If you use a whole cut-up chicken, you should give it an hour. I suggest lining your cookie sheet with foil because the marinade leaves a very sticky residue.

My kids absolutely loved this chicken! My son had a friend over and he loved it too. It was gone within 10 minutes — my two girls were actually fighting over the last drumstick! Next time I will make more :).  It was really yummy with a nice crispy outside and a tender inside. We like to eat organic chicken a lot, it is a good source of protein with no presence of antibiotics and organic chicken contains ten times more omega-3s. I served the chicken with leftover zucchini cakes, mango and watermelon.

Roasted Balsamic Chicken

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (4-pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces OR 8 drumsticks

1. Whisk the vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper in small bowl to blend. Combine the vinaigrette and chicken pieces in a large resealable plastic bag; seal the bag and toss to coat.
2. Refrigerate, turning the chicken pieces occasionally, for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Remove chicken from the bag and arrange the chicken pieces on a large greased baking dish. Roast until the chicken is just cooked through, about 1 hour.
5. If your chicken browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the remaining cooking time. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter.
6. Sprinkle with a few pinches of Himalayan pink salt.

~ “The thing about food is you’re a much happier person if you eat well and treasure your meals.” – Julia Child