How appetising does this look?
I think this recipe does rather count towards my healthy eating project. It’s cooked with a minimal amount of additional fat, and it’s easy to add plenty of vegetables. However, I didn’t choose it because of that.
I chose it because we are overrun with limes and I knew it was something I could prep in advance and just deal with the chicken at the last minute. We have recently extended our home grown herb selection to include oregano too (it’s an a pot and not only is it thriving, it looks great too!) so I liked that I wasn’t going to have to head to the shops to spend $3 or $4 on a packet of sad looking fresh herb.
The original comes from the excellent and reliable Delicious (UK) site. I substituted a lime for the lemon which I think is a good call, as even if you’re not drowning in limes, lemons can end up overpowering dishes like this whereas lime is a much more subtle flavour. Rather than using a whole head of garlic, I used a few cloves (skin on) and added carrots to my pan. We were going to steam some broccoli to serve as a side but you could also pop some broccoli florets in the pan for the last 10 or so minutes of cooking.
The beauty of cooking like this is that you do not have to worry about making a gravy or sauce to go with your meal. That magic just happens for you.
While this is not a true one-pot dish you could make it so by not bothering with browning the chicken. However, I urge you take the time to do so because not only does the finished dish look more attractive, I think it tastes better and the flavour of the self made gravy/sauce is much improved.
Ingredients
- 3 or 4 potatoes, cut into chunks
- 2 carrots, cut into quarters
- 4-6 cloves of garlic, skin on (as many or as few as you want, really)
- 1 lime, sliced (about 4 or 5 slices)
- 2 sprigs of oregano
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- handful of pitted kalamata olives
- ~ 100 mL dry white wine
- olive oil
- 4-5 chicken thighs
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
- In a large, lidded baking or roasting dish, drizzle a little olive oil and then arrange the vegetables and herbs on top. This can be done in advance.
- On the stove, heat a pan with a little oil, season the chicken thighs and brown them on both sides.
- When the chicken thighs are browned, place them on top of the vegetables. Put on the lid and place in the oven.
- Cook until the chicken juices run clear and the vegetables are done - this will probably be about 30-40 minutes.
- Serve with additional steamed vegetables on the side and the sauce from the pan poured over the top.