Tarragon Chicken ( or TOFU) with Asparagus, Lemon and Leeks
A healthy delicious sheet-pan dinner, that features the best of spring produce! Make it in 30 minutes with minimal clean up. Vegan adaptable, GF and paleo!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: paleo or vegan main
- Method: Sheet pan
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 2 lemons
- 1/ 4 cup olive oil
- 4–6 garlic cloves, finely minced ( or use a garlic press)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ounce package of fresh tarragon leaves, rough chopped, about ¼–⅓ cup
- 1 extra large bunch asparagus, trimmed ( about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 1–2 large leeks, sliced into ½ inch thick rounds ( if dirty, rinse, see notes)
- 1– 1.5 lbs chicken breast ( boneless skinless) or sub tofu see notes
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450F
In a small bowl make the marinade. Place the zest of one lemon, and its juice ( about 3 tablespoons) in a small bowl. Add oil, garlic, salt and pepper, and mix well until salt dissolves. Add ½ of the fresh tarragon, saving the rest for garnish.
Place trimmed asparagus in a bowl and spoon some of the marinade over top. Toss to combine and place on a parchment lined sheet pan. Add leeks to the same bowl, toss with a little marinade and spread out on the sheet pan. If using tofu, place in the bowl adding a little more marinade, toss to coat, add to sheet pan. Lastly add the chicken breasts, with remaining marinade, coating well. Nestle the chicken amongst the asparagus.
Zest the second lemon over the whole sheet-pan and slice the lemons into rounds, layering them over the asparagus. Place in the hot oven. If using tofu, either nestle it into one side of the pan or place it on a separate sheet pan – up to you.
Bake 20 minutes. Chicken should read 160-170 F. To get a more golden color broil for just a couple minutes.
Remove from the oven. Give everything a little toss, turning chicken over to coat the top with the flavorful juices. Sprinkle with remaining fresh tarragon and serve.
Notes
If using tofu, use extra firm. Slice into ¾ inch thick slabs and coat on all sides with marinade . For mixed households, serve both tofu and the chicken! (Marinade is enough for 1.5 lbs chicken + 8 ounces tofu and the veggies.)
If cooking for two – you could easily half the chicken and double/ triple the asparagus. ( We do this a lot at home.) You could also marinate the chicken/tofu ahead, overnight if you like.
You could also use skin on bone in thighs, but this will require a longer cooking time and asparagus would need to come of the oven out earlier – so either place to one side or on a separate pan.
If the leeks are dirty when you slice them into rounds, not to worry. Just place the cut rounds into a bowl of water, gently swish and soak them for a few minutes. The dirt will fall to the bottom. Fish them out, pat dry. (They don’t need to be perfectly dry)