Roasted Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic Yoghurt
Servings: 6 to 8 serves
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN DISH
- 2 tbls Sriracha chili sauce Thai chili sauce
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 4 tbls olive oil
- 1.5 to 1.6 kg chicken thighs left whole – do not cut into small pieces
- 1 kg Ruby Red potatoes washed, skin left on, cut into wedges
- 2 leeks washed halved lengthways, and thinly sliced
- zest 1 lemon press out juice after zesting and save for later
- 1 tbls olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
- 60 g lemon juice from lemon that has been zested
- few sprigs fresh dill or dried dill if you don’t have fresh
INGREDIENTS FOR YOGHURT SAUCE (combine in a bowl)
- 200 g thick style yoghurt
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- dried dill flakes to taste
- sea salt flakes and freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- Make the yoghurt sauce and place into the fridge to allow flavours to develop
- Mix the Sriracha, cumin and olive oil together
- Combine chicken and potatoes in a large bowl, pour over the marinade and mix through … allow to sit for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to 8 hours in advance and store in the fridge - but remove 30 minutes before baking
- Preheat oven to 220 degrees fan forced
- Arrange chicken and potato in a large baking dish in a single layer (if the chicken and potato slightly overlap that is fine, but you don’t want the food sitting deeply on top of itself otherwise the chicken and potato won’t cook evenly)
- Roast for 15 minutes
- Whilst the chicken is cooking, in another bowl combine leek, lemon zest, oil and salt
- Remove the baking dish from oven and toss the chicken and potatoes lightly
- Scatter over the leek mixture ensuring you go to the edges as you want it to flavour the whole dish
- Bake for a further 20 to 22 minutes until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through when tested with a skewer (the leek will look crispy and caramelized and that is what you want - I check the chicken at 20 minutes, and if necessary cook for a further 2 minutes - it is okay if the potatoes are still a little firm as you don’t want them mushy)
- Pour over the lemon juice and allow the dish to rest for 10 minutes before serving
- Serve the chicken and potatoes topped with the leeks, a large green salad and the yoghurt sauce on the side.
Notes
Adapted from recipe by the New York Times here:
This is an amazingly simple dish, and leftovers are incredibly delicious the next day. It is not a particularly "pretty" dish, but I can assure you your family will thank you for making this for them.
You will need to marinate the chicken and potatoes for at least 30 minutes (at room temperature), or this can be done in advance for up to 8 hours and taken out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. So it can be prepared in the morning and baked in the evening.
The yoghurt sauce is made first to allow the flavours to develop, but if you don't have yoghurt then use homemade mayonnaise in place of the yoghurt and it will still be delicious.
It is important to use chicken thighs in this recipe, as breast will become too dry with the quick, high heat. I like to leave a little fat on the chicken thighs, but remove any large chunks, but leave the rest as that is going to add flavour and help keep the meat moist.
This dish is a total winner served as it is, but you can also omit the potatoes, add a little more chicken, and serve it on top a creamy mash or polenta ... I have done both and the juice from the chicken marries beautifully with the softness of the potatoes or polenta.
To keep it dairy free and Paleo omit the yoghurt sauce, but top with avocado that has been mashed with some lemon juice and pesto for added "creaminess".