sheet pan turmeric spiced chicken, cauliflower, peppers, and chickpeas with whipped lemon honey goat cheese

hi from my tiny porch in this littler corner of virginia, friends! the sun is blasting my skin and i’m typing this through 2 rather squinted eyes because i have yet in my life to find sunglasses that work with the shape of my face. it’s supposed to be 80 degrees here today, and my very northern blood is not prepared for the drastic uptick in temperature when it’s very used to hovering below 50 for the next 1-3 months. i’m sure you’re thinking, ‘it’s WARM, you idiot, that’s what everyone wants,’ but if any of my prior chitchat about weather on honey street has been an indication, i do not thrive in the heat. there are a lot of gifs about boob sweat that i’d like to insert here, so please use your imagination.

anyway, that’s that on the weather report, and aside from that, i’m stumbling through portuguese lessons, job interviews, apartment decorating, and general woman-in-her-30’s just doing her best business. it’s times like these i like to self-soothe with flavors and spices and daydreams about places far away, so in the spirit of such, we have this recipe: sheet pan turmeric spiced chicken, cauliflower, peppers, and chickpeas with whipped lemon honey goat cheese.

*obviously could not have gone with a shorter title.

ok, so this recipe sounds really fancy and feels really fancy, but the magic here is that it’s actually quite unfancy and unfussy and just super delicious. it’s also ready in 30 minutes and you get to swish everything through a sweet and tangy cloud-like balm of lemony goat cheese.

WHIPPED LEMON HONEY GOAT CHEESE can we talk about this?? it feels like the most decadent addition to a sheet pan dinner (you deserve that, firstly) but it’s really just your basic grocery store goat cheese, lemon juice, honey, and a little olive oil zhuzhed up in your food processor for a minute that conjures this truly dreamy sauce/base situation (so easy, secondly.)

we’re cutting up the chicken into smaller pieces before roasting so that they roast more quickly, evenly, and each little piece gets coated in the spice blend. we’re piling cauliflower, bell peppers, and chickpeas onto another sheet pan with the same spice blend (eeeeeeasy!) and everything pops into the oven at once and that’s really all there is to it. i cannot stress enough that it only takes a few ingredients and a few spices you might not have stirred together before to create something really, really special.

a few things before we get started:

- this is easy. so easy!!! if you’re a real planner-aheader, you can marinate the chicken beforehand and then toss everything onto your sheet pans when you’re ready to rock. if not, do it all at once and yield just as delicious results
- please trust the blend of spices. i am not being facetious when i tell you that coriander and nutmeg on chicken will change your life in a delightful way
- not a fan of chickpeas? skip them! you could add a sliced onion or carrots instead for a stellar alternative
- please please please be generous with yourself when plating the whipped goat cheese. there is truly nothing more heavenly than piercing a piece of cauliflower with your fork and swooshing it through a creamy swish of the lemony honeyed goat cheese
- this meal makes for awesome meal prep. you can make everything ahead of time, including the goat cheese, and speaking from experience, the goat cheese is great with strawberries or on toast, too

sheet pan turmeric spiced chicken, cauliflower, peppers, and chickpeas with whipped lemon honey goat cheese
makes: 4 servings
prep time: 10 minutes + marinating
cook time: 30 minutes

for the chicken + veggies:
1 1/2lbs chicken breasts (I used 3), cut into 2-inch pieces
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2 bell peppers, sliced
1 15oz. can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry (you can do this with paper towels - easy)
1tbsp olive oil, divided

for the spice blend:
2tsp coriander
2tsp cumin
2tsp garlic powder
1tsp nutmeg
2tsp paprika
2tsp turmeric
2tsp salt
2tsp black pepper

for the whipped lemon honey goat cheese:
8oz. goat cheese
juice from 1 lemon
1 1/2tsp honey
1tsp olive oil
pinch of salt

mint or parsley for garnish, optional

preheat the oven the 400.
in a small bowl, mix the spice blend. if you’re marinating the chicken beforehand, drizzle with half the olive oil and coat thoroughly with half the spice blend. (you can marinate for 1-8 hours, or skip marinating all together! truly whatever makes your life easier.)

toss the cauliflower and peppers with the remaining olive oil and spice blend. using two baking sheets, arrange the chicken pieces on one, and the veggies on another. roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway. at the halfway point, add the chickpeas to the veggie pan, and mix them in with the cauliflower and peppers.

while the chicken and veggies are roasting, combine the ingredients for the whipped lemon honey goat cheese in a food processor on the low speed setting. let the food processor run for a couple of minutes until the goat cheese is smooth, light, and fluffy.

to serve, spread a thick (and i mean THICK) layer of the whipped goat cheese onto each plate, then pile the chicken and veggies on top. garnish with fresh herbs and a sprinkle of salt.