Enjoy these family-friendly one-pan wonders selected from Kim Kushner’s third cookbook, I Heart Kosher: Beautiful Recipes from my Kitchen (Weldon Owen)—they’re perfect for Passover or all year round. As a bonus, they’re also gluten-free!
Simple Roasted Chickens with Hasselback Potatoes. Courtesy of Andrea Burnett
Simple Roasted Chickens with Hasselback Potatoes
Yields 6-10 servings
“Hasselback” is a term for potatoes sliced very thinly, but with the bottoms left intact, so the thin slices fan out and can easily be peeled off one slice at a time. The potatoes, alongside the beautiful golden roasted chickens, are best served hot, right out of the oven.
Chicken
2 whole butterflied chickens, skin on and bone in, trimmed of excess skin and fat
Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons, halved
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Roasted Garlic Paste (see following recipe) or 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
4 sprigs fresh thyme (thyme leaves plucked off the stem) or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Potatoes
6-10 medium to large Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and dried
Light olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line an extra-large rimmed baking sheet (or two regular baking sheets) with parchment paper.
2. To prepare the chickens, season them with salt and pepper on both sides—be generous! Squeeze the lemons over the chickens, then drizzle with the extra-virgin olive oil. Rub the garlic paste and thyme on both sides of chickens. Place chickens, skin side up, on the prepared baking sheet.
3. To prepare the Hasselback potatoes, working with one potato at a time, cut thin slits into the top of the potato from one side to the other, cutting almost but not all the way through, almost like a fan. Drizzle the light olive oil over the potatoes and season generously with salt and pepper, then use your hands to rub in the seasonings and ensure that the potatoes are completely coated with the oil, salt, and pepper. Place the potatoes, uncut side down, around the chickens on the same baking sheet.
4. Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake until both the chickens and potatoes are crispy and golden, 30 minutes longer. Serve.
Make-Ahead Tip: The chickens can be marinated and stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours before cooking. Cooked chickens with potatoes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
How to Reheat: The chickens with potatoes can be reheated, uncovered, in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Roasted Garlic Paste
Yields about ¼ cup
When you slow-roast the entire garlic bulb, the sharp flavors dissipate and emerge as a soft, deep, buttery garlic flavor.
2 garlic bulbs
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
2. Cut a thin slice from the top (the wider part) of each garlic bulb. Tear off 2 sheets of aluminum foil and place a bulb in the center of each sheet. Drizzle the bulbs with the light olive oil and wrap them in the foil. Transfer the foil-wrapped bulbs to a small baking dish or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cut side up.
3. Bake in the oven until the bulbs soften, 60-75 minutes.
4. Let cool slightly and squeeze out all of the garlic paste, using a spoon to scrape it out, into a small glass jar. Pour the extra-virgin olive oil over the roasted garlic, and store in the fridge until ready to use.
Make-Ahead Tip: Roasted garlic paste can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Caramelized Sweet Onion Halves Baked on Parchment
Yields 6-8 servings
Roasted onions as a vegetable side dish? Yes! Versatile onions are often overlooked as a root vegetable to serve solo. This technique is the same one that Kim Kushner uses for her Crispy Sweet Potato Halves (see next recipe). The result? Sweet, luscious, melt-in-your-mouth onion halves.
6 onions, yellow or red, rinsed and dried
2 tablespoons light-tasting olive oil
8 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
Kosher salt
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line 1 or 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cut the unpeeled onions in half lengthwise. Drizzle the oil onto the prepared baking sheet(s). Add the thyme and 2 teaspoons salt and use your fingertips to swirl all together. Rub the onion halves on all sides into the oil mixture and then place the onion halves cut-side down on the parchment paper.
3. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 1 hour. Serve.
Make-Ahead Tip: These onions can be baked and left in an “off” oven for up to 4 hours.
How to Reheat: Reheat, uncovered, in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Crispy Sweet Potato Halves Baked on Parchment. Courtesy of Andrea Burnett
Crispy Sweet Potato Halves Baked on Parchment
Yields 6-8 servings
After about an hour in the oven, you will literally peel the sweet potatoes off the parchment paper and be rewarded with a crispy-skinned, caramelized, golden, sticky potato. No mess, no fuss. Thank you Oz Telem, author of The Book of the Cauliflower, for this awesome technique.
8 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
2 tablespoons light-tasting olive oil
8 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
Kosher salt
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line 1 or 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Drizzle the oil onto the prepared baking sheet(s). Add the thyme and 2 teaspoons salt and use your fingertips to swirl all together. Rub the potato halves on all sides in the oil mixture and then place the potato halves cut side down on the parchment paper.
3. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 1 hour. Serve.
Make-Ahead Tip: Crispy sweet potato halves baked on parchment can be baked and left in an “off” oven for up to 4 hours.
How to Reheat: Reheat, uncovered, in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Flourless Chocolate-Almond Gooey Chewy
Yields about 16 cookies
These are a cross between a cookie and a brownie. Feel free to swap out the almonds for your favorite nuts.
1 cup (90 g) sliced almonds
3 cups (300 g) confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup (75 g) almond flour
1/2 cup (40 g) cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the almonds, sugar, almond flour, and cocoa until well combined. Add the vanilla and egg whites and use a spatula to stir thoroughly until the mixture looks chocolatey and has a firm batter consistency.
3. Use a medium ice-cream scoop to scoop out the cookies. Place them on the prepared baking sheets 2 inches (5 cm) apart (they will spread while cooking). Sprinkle a few specks of sea salt onto the top of each cookie.
4. Bake the cookies in the oven until the outsides appear crackly and firm while the insides are still soft to the touch, about 14 minutes. Remove from the oven, place on a rack and let cool completely, about 20 minutes. Once cooled, peel the cookies away from the parchment paper and place on a serving dish or in a container with parchment squares between each cookie to prevent sticking.
Make-Ahead Tip: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Can I Freeze It? The cookies can be frozen (with parchment squares in between each cookie to avoid sticking), but will end up more crunchy rather than gooey. Thaw on the counter for an hour before serving.
Norene Gilletz, the author of twelve kosher cookbooks, is also a food writer, food manufacturer, consultant, spokesperson, cooking instructor, lecturer, cookbook editor and a podcaster. Norene lives in Toronto, Canada.