Since I’m quickly approaching the last month of pregnancy, you get to hear all the wonderful excitement that’s flooding through our house! I cannot believe May 9th is so close. With all the excitement of nearing the end of my pregnancy comes exhaustion and down right laziness…especially when it comes to cooking. I go through phases where I love cooking and enjoy it so much and have an abundance (well maybe not abundance) of energy. Then there are days when we decide to go out and skip the prep, cooking, and cleaning of dinner. This recipe is great! It has minimal clean up and prep work. I love a recipe that I can start when I walk in from work and then leave it to bake. Low maintenance is KEY! Steam up some broccoli, put a pot of rice on, or reheat leftover sweet potatoes from the night before and you’ve got your side covered!

I went though a phase where I was buying chicken legs once a week. I loved the tender chicken that would nearly melt in your mouth after baking in the oven. I’ve always been a fan of chicken wings, but yet again, would often run into an issue after eating them. The heavy sauce, deep fried grease, and low quality chicken made me feel gross after eating. These garlic paprika chicken legs are much healthier without compromising taste. I hope you’ll enjoy this EASY week night dinner as much as I do!

Ingredients:

6 chicken legs

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. smoked paprika (you can use other paprika…I just love the smoked)

1/2 lemon juiced

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a small sauce pan, add oil and minced garlic. Cook on medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant. Turn off heat and stir in smoked paprika. Let cool slightly.

3. Generously sprinkle salt and pepper all over chicken legs and place in a 9×13 pan.

4. Add oil mixture to the chicken legs, being sure the mixture coats all the parts of the chicken.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn chicken and spoon sauce over chicken.

6. Broil on high for 5 minutes.

7. Add lemon juice over the chicken legs before serving.

Serve with rice or vegetables.