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Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Coconut and Lime

[cap id="attachment_2517" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Two options for serving with sauces ... lighter version (NF) on top, creamier (DF) nut version on bottom[/cap]

This dish serves six adults well, but if you have four (which is in my household) then you will definitely have leftovers which is what I was aiming for.

The chicken is marinated from 4 to 24 hours in advance so can be prepared the night before … just make sure you remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.

Save the marinade from the chicken to add to the liquid you need to steam your rice in the Thermomix. To do this press your scale on, pour the marinade into the TM bowl and top up with enough filtered water to get to the volume of liquid you need (900g for TM31, and 1000g for TM5). Add a teaspoon of sea salt flakes to the liquid before placing in the basket of washed rice.

There are two options for dressings … both completely different, and both work well with this dish. The sweet chili sauce/lime dressing (nut free) is thinner and can be prepared a day ahead, but the coconut/peanut butter dressing is thicker and creamier and is best prepared on the day of serving as it firms up substantially when stored in the fridge.

You can serve whatever accompaniments you like … it can be as simple as rice, sauce and chicken. But I love fresh veggies so I have given you a list of what I serve, the leftovers of which I use in the following day's meal. The veggies can be prepared earlier in the day and kept in an airtight container in the fridge, making last minute prep very easy.

Based on which sauce you choose this dish is nut free and dairy free, and to make it Paleo friendly serve it with cauliflower rice (see here for method to prepare cauliflower).

MEAL FOR SECOND NIGHT:

This is what I do with the leftovers. Start first with cooking the leftover veggies in a little ghee in a large frypan (add more if you need to … I use a wok), then add the leftover rice and cook for a few minutes to reheat, finally add any leftover sauce, herbs and thinly sliced chicken and cook for a further two to three minutes. If there is not much chicken left start your stir fry by making an omelet in your pan using two to three eggs, remove, then continue with the veggies, rice, sauce, herbs and chicken before finally adding back in the finely sliced omelet. Check for seasoning and add more soy sauce or tamari if needed before serving.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 6 adults
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN

  • Zest of 2 limes save juice for later … you will need extra juice for sauce too
  • 50 g ginger peeled weight
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1 red chili unseeded (optional)

  • 50 g coconut palm sugar or brown sugar
  • 2 tsp sea salt flakes or 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 x 400g tin coconut milk

  • 1.8 to 2 kg skinless chicken thighs left whole (do not cut into pieces)

  • 60 g lime juice from limes zested earlier … this is poured over chicken when cooked

OPTION 1: THINNER CHILI/LIME SAUCE (NF)

  • Mix together and put aside until ready to serve:

  • ½ cup sweet chili sauce
  • ½ cup fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • ½ tsp dried basil leaves
  • ½ tsp dried mint leave

OPTION 2: CREAMY COCONUT /PEANUT SAUCE (DF)

  • Mix together and put aside until ready to serve:

  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • ¼ cup chunky peanut butter smooth if you prefer
  • 2 tbls soy sauce or tamari for GF
  • 1 tbls fresh lime juice
  • 2 tsp honey
  • ½ tsp sea salt flakes

TO SERVE

  • Steamed basmati or black rice I use 400g uncooked rice
  • 2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
  • 2 large carrots - shredded julienned or thinly sliced
  • 1 large or 2 small Lebanese cucumber - cut in half and sliced
  • 4 shallots - thinly sliced
  • 200 g dry roasted peanuts - chopped optional
  • Coriander leaves washed, dried and roughly chopped

Method
 

  1. Place chicken into large bowl (remove any large chunks of fat if there are any)
  2. Place lime zest, ginger, garlic and chili into TM bowl and chop 3 seconds / speed 7
  3. Scrape sides, add sugar, salt and coconut milk and blend 5 seconds / speed 5
  4. Pour marinade over chicken, stir through, cover and allow to marinate for 4 to 24 hours in the fridge
  5. Remove chicken from fridge 30 minutes before cooking
  6. At this point start preparing your accompaniments … put aside until ready to serve
  7. Preheat oven to 220 degrees fan forced
  8. Start to prepare your rice by placing basket into Thermomix and weighing in rice … put basket aside until ready to cook rice
  9. Place spinach into Thermoserver ready to put cooked rice into … put aside until rice is cooked
  10. Remove chicken from marinade, shake off excess and place chicken into a large baking tray … fit snugly in the tray but do not sit pieces on top of each other
  11. Roast 15 minutes
  12. Whilst the chicken is cooking steam your rice using the marinade as part of the liquid (see notes above), rinse rice in basket under cold water, place basket into TM bowl and cook 20 minutes for basmati rice or 35 minutes for black rice / 100 degrees / speed 4
  13. Pour cooked rice on top of spinach in Thermoserver, place lid in position and put aside until ready to serve (the heat of the rice will cook the spinach so stir that through just before serving)
  14. After 15 minutes remove chicken from oven and turn over
  15. Return to oven and bake for a further 20 minutes (this was perfect timing in my oven)
  16. Remove chicken from oven and pour over lime juice … allow to rest for 10 minutes and serve
  17. Place rice into serving bowls, top with sliced chicken (I cut each thigh in half), add the other accompaniments as desired and drizzle with sauce of choice