What's for Dinner?! Lemon Curry Roasted Chicken, Amazing Rice Pilaf!

I made this dish for dinner last night after sort of a hiatus from inspired cooking.  As you know if you've been reading here lately, my Hubs has been working late for about the past 6 weeks on a major project, so the dinner department suffers severely.  It's just not as much fun not having dinner as a family and thus, I just don't feel like getting creative lately.

I don't know what it was yesterday, but something hit me and the cooking bug bit me again!  Oh happy day!  I scoured my cookbooks until I found something that sounded amazing that I knew I had all the ingredients to make.  And, I found this amazing gem from Sarah Foster of Foster's Market.  I shared one of her cookbooks with you the other day in the  post I did on Chocolate Whopper cookies , but these recipes today come from one of her other cookbooks that is equally inspiring and delicious called Fresh Everyday which you can buy HERE.

 I should also tell you that I didn't have a whole chicken when I made this.  I used bone-in/skin-on chicken breasts and in the places it said to put stuff in the cavity, I just sort of crammed the things directly below the boned part of the breast.  And I'm happy to say, it still turned out amazingly!!!  I'm a bigger fan of the white meat anyways.  I can't tell you how flavorful and yummy this was.  And if you think you're afraid of or don't like curry...think again.  This basically creates a spicy, sweet, just overly mouth-watering piece of meat.  And the sauce that you pour over it at the end....oh my goodness.  I can't wait to make this again!!!

So without further ado, I introduce you to Lemon Curry Roasted Chicken and the perfect side to accompany it, Rice Pilaf for every season!  I just roasted some broccoli to add a little green to our plates!  (If you don't know how to roast broccoli, just throw some florets into a ziplock bag, lightly coat with olive oil, season with a bit of season salt like Lawrys, pepper, and a little garlic.  Toss it all together in the bag, then evenly spread on a lined baking sheet.  I usually bake about 15 minutes at 375.  It's so flavorful and lovely.  And my kids actually devour broccoli this way too!)

OK ok...the recipes!

Lemon-curry roasted chicken
Adapted from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster
1 3- to 3 1/2-pound chicken
2 lemons, halved
1 apple, halved and cored
2 cinnamon sticks
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup curry powder
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Leaves from 6 to 7 fresh thyme or lemon thyme sprigs (about 2 tablespoons)
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2.  Remove the giblets and loose fat from the cavity of the chicken.  Rinse the chicken inside and out and pat it dry with paper towels.  Place the chicken, breast side up, on a roasting rack set inside a large roasting pan or ovenproof skillet.  Squeeze the juice from the lemons over the chicken and inside the cavity.  Place 2 of the squeezed lemon halves, the apple halves, and cinnamon sticks in the cavity of the chicken and place the remaining lemon halves in the bottom of the pan.

3.  Stir the olive oil, curry powder, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and thyme together in a small bowl to make a paste.  massage the paste into the skin of the chicken and let the chicken sit 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature to marinate before cooking.

4.  Pour the broth and wine around the chicken and roast for 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes, basting frequently, until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a knife in the thickest part of the thigh or an instant-read thermometer inserted into that point registers 170 to 175 degrees F.  Add a cupful of water or wine to the pan if it gets dry.  Let the chicken rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

Like I said...I used 4 large chicken breasts for this...and no complaint here from the result!

Ok...now, the rice pilaf, which was also unreal!!!

 Long Grain and Wild Rice Pilaf with Quinoa, Golden Raisins, and Orange Zest

1 Tbsp unsalted Butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Leek washed well, trimmed and julienned (I didn't have a leek, so I just julienned an onion.)
1 c long grain wild rice (rinsed and drained)
2 1/2 c. chicken broth
1 large carrot trimmed and julienned
grated zest and juice of 1 orange
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 c. quinoa
2 Tbsp hopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used dried b/c i didn't have fresh)
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves (used dried again here...just add it in when you add the quinoa so that the dry herbs have time to flavor the dish and soften.)
1/2 c. golden (or regular) raisins

(depending on the cook time of the rice you use...about 2/3 that cook time.)

2. While the rice simmers, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and drain well.  Add the quinoa to the saucepan with the rice and stir to combine.(If you're using dry herbs, I'd add the in at this point too.)  Replace the lid and simmer the quinoa and rice for another 15-20 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the grains are soft and fluffy.

3. Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the parsley, thyme (if you're using fresh herbs...do this here), and raisins.  Serve warm with salt and pepper to taste as needed!

Enjoy!!  And if you make this (which you totally should), then leave me a comment later to tell me what you thought!

Much love,
Logan