Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon & Bacon

I was sent this recipe and decided to give it a whirl!  And of course I couldn't follow it as-is ;)  I changed it to include... drum roll please... BACON!!... after seeing this recipe.  Oh yum.  Instead of too lemony (like some of the reviews suggested) it had a slightly lemony, slightly smokey flavor combination.  I was in love!  But know that this was not love-at-first-sight.  It took some interesting oven baking, but it ended up being worth it in the end.  And because I was flustered at the end of 3 separate cooking times (for a one pot meal!) I didn't even take a picture of the end result. Boo. It ended up being tasty and I will try the flavor combination again definitely! Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon & Bacon - inspired from this recipe and this recipe 4 medium red potatoes, small dice 1 bag broccoletti (young broccoli), washed, trimmed juice of 1 lemon olive oil spices (I used garlic powder and all purpose seasoning) 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs 3 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch strips Directions: Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray.  Prepare potatoes and broccoletti.  If you have garlic, put some minced garlic in.  But I didn't, so I just sprinkled some garlic powder over the vegetables.  Drizzle olive oil, the juice of the lemon, and season to your liking (I used the all purpose seasoning and some pepper).  Toss to coat. Cut the three slices of bacon into 1/2 inch strips and combine with potato and broccoli mixture. Prepare chicken.  I had some chicken thighs in the freezer that I had chickened out using in a recipe a while back (pun intended ;)) I've never had them that I know of because we're just chicken breast kind of people.  I trimmed away some of the fat - would have liked to trim them up a little bit more but Little One broke through the baby gate and climbed up the stairs 3 times while I had chicken hands!!  It just wasn't my night for this recipe! ;)  But I digress... In a small bowl mix the chicken with a drizzle of olive oil, garlic, and other seasonings.  Toss to coat.  Then nestle the chicken into the vegetables.  Doesn't it look yummy?! Cook at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Beautiful, but the potatoes are hard as a rock! Haha! I had to remove the broccoli because it was getting too crispy.  So maybe the green beans in the original recipe would have been better? Put the potatoes and meat back in the oven for another 10 minutes.  Then I removed the chicken from the dish and set aside.  Buuuuut, the potatoes were still crunchy.  I swear I never cut them small enough and they are never done when I bake them this way!  Someday I'll learn! For one last 10 - 15 minutes, I finished roasting the potatoes.  This time they were done (that's 55 - 60 minutes total ;)) The Verdict I looooooved this flavor combination.  It was perfectly smokey and tangy.  Sounds a little weird, but I promise you it's good!  DH is not a big fan of the broccoletti.  I, personally, like how it gets crispy.  Together, we're not huge fans of the chicken thighs.  They ended up being a little greasy - or maybe that's how they were supposed to be?  I don't know since I've never cooked with them before.  Next time I try this recipe, I'll use my staple chicken breasts.  Maybe the bone-in / skin-on type that the original recipe called for might be a nice addition.