Lemony Chicken with Potatoes

Last year Weight Watchers expanded its Zero-Point food list to include dark meat poultry and lean red meat, which includes beef, pork, lamb, veal, venison. And for the first time potatoes are now Zero Points. Sweet potatoes? Zero Points.

Shortly before the Zero Point food list was expanded, I posted this recipe from NYT chef Melissa Clark for a sheet-pan recipe with chicken thighs and potatoes. It was a whopping 11 WW Points, which was too heavy a price for many WW members to pay. But now it's only 1 point.

Melissa uses 3 Tbsp. of olive oil in this dish, which I cut back to 1 Tbsp. She keeps the skin on the chicken thighs so that they don't dry out in the heat of the oven. I removed the skin after the chicken was fully cooked.

To make it a complete meal, I added a thickly sliced zucchini to the potatoes after the first 20 minutes of roasting time. What a lemony delight this dinner was! And now we can enjoy chicken thighs with impunity!

2 lemons

1 lb. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (2 to 3), patted dry with paper towels

1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed, halved and cut into ½-inch wedges

1 ¾ tsp. dried oregano, plus more for serving

1 ½ tsp. kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), plus more for serving

¾ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Trim the ends off 1 lemon, then cut the lemon in half crosswise.Thinly slice one half of the lemon into rounds, then cut the rounds into quarters, creating small triangles. Shake out the seeds then place the lemon quarters into a large bowl. Save the remaining lemon half for serving. Cut the remaining whole lemon into wedges, for serving.

Add chicken and potatoes to the large bowl with the lemon quarters. Add the oregano, salt and pepper; toss well. Drizzle in the oil and toss again.

Arrange chicken thighs skin side up on one half of the sheet pan, and potatoes and lemons on the other, spreading the potatoes out into one layer. Roast for 20 minutes.

Using a long-handled spoon, stir the potatoes, then spread them out again in one layer. (You can add sliced zucchini now if you want.) You don’t have to touch the chicken. Continue roasting until chicken and potatoes are cooked through and everything is golden and crisped, another 15 to 20 minutes (40 to 45 minutes total roasting time).

To serve, squeeze the juice from the lemon half all over chicken and potatoes and give everything a good stir to incorporate all the juices and browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with more oregano and salt and serve.

Serves 4

WW Points per serving: 1