sheet pan miso-maple chicken with radishes & turnips

this fall, let's give humble root veggies the love they deserve

It’s been a gorgeous and relatively quiet week here at the farm, as we get ready to celebrate our son Sawyer’s 2nd birthday alongside our rockstar village of family and friends, who have all helped raise this sweet little man over the past 2 years.

These days, Sawyer loves soccer balls, insects (especially caterpillars), construction vehicles (cannot get enough cement mixers), listening to Taylor Swift (for real, he’s a total Swiftie), and going on forest walks with his beloved purple wagon (pictured below). He still does NOT like eating tomatoes (or most vegetables, for that matter)… but we’re working on that!

In some farm-related updates – this week we’ve focused on continuing to reign in some wildly weedy patches, and slowly but surely this place is getting whipped back into shape. We’re also harvesting lots of cool peppers these days… local friends, if you’re into habanada peppers (they have the flavor/vibe of a habanero, but without the heat), let me know and I’ll hook you up! We’ve also hit #peakradish and #peakturnip, which totally inspired this week’s recipe to help you eat like a farmer…

Speaking of which, I need to wrap it up because it’s currently 11pm on Friday night and tomorrow we’re throwing a birthday party for Sawyer… but keep reading for this week’s recipe: Sheet Pan Miso-Maple Chicken with Radishes & Turnips!

When you think about your favorite fall veggies, what comes to mind? Let me guess… butternut squash! carrots! leafy greens! beets! pumpkin everything!

I’m going to take a wild guess that you’re probably *less* excited about radishes and turnips? Even though they are gorgeous #peakfall veggies that most small, diversified farmers have growing in abundance in their fields right now?

Now friends, let’s not forget that this lil newsletter is called Eat Like a Farmer… and for me, a big part of “eating like a farmer” means growing/buying/eating ingredients that aren’t necessarily the *sexiest* crops on the block. Which is why this week, I’m sharing a new fall recipe that makes takes some humble root veggies – like radishes and turnips – and makes them the stars of the show.

This sheet pan recipe is an excellent choice for a super quick, unfussy, unexpectedly delicious weeknight dinner as we transition into fall. You start by making a flavor-packed miso-maple mixture that acts as a marinade for both the chicken AND the veggies, and then everything roasts together in a 425F oven for 30-40 minutes and voila! You’ve got a fabulous dinner, minimal dishes, AND you can say that you’re eating like a farmer.

A few recipe notes:

• This recipe is super flexible, so if you’re feeding a bigger crowd you can easily double the amount of radishes + turnips (and/or use more chicken thighs)… just make a bit more of the miso-maple mixture. Also, if you really just can’t get on board with radishes/turnips, you can absolutely swap them out for other veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes, or winter squash.

• There are several different kinds of turnips, and this recipe is designed for tender white Japanese/salad turnips (the most common variety is called Hakurei).

• I’m going to be bossy and tell you that you really need to use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe. Boneless thighs will cook too quickly, and if you don’t have the skin-on, then you aren’t going to get that beautiful, irresistibly crispy skin that you absolutely want/need.

• To round out the meal, I recommend serving this dish alongside some white or brown rice or some creamy polenta.

Keep reading for the full recipe, including a 1-page PDF for easy printing.

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Sheet Pan Miso-Maple Chicken with Radishes & Turnips

Serves 4-6