Mediterranean Chicken: A feel-good family recipe

You can make endless variations of this chicken dish, and it works with lots of different vegies. To make this a one-pot meal, add some asparagus, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, fennel or spinach to the chicken for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Serves: 4 to 6   
Prep time: 15 minutes  
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 6 kipfler potatoes, skin on, scrubbed
• 1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  
• 8 chicken thigh cutlets, bone in and skin removed
  
• 1 leek, thinly sliced
  
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
  
• 4 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
  
• ¼ cup (40g) pitted Kalamata olives
  
• ½ cup (125ml) white wine
  
• 10g salted baby capers, rinsed
  
• 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
  
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1 lemon, halved
  
• 2 cups (120g) broccoli florets
  
• 4 cups (180g) shredded silverbeet

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Cook the potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling water for 10 to 12 minutes or until just tender. Drain and allow to cool. Cut the potatoes in half lengthways and arrange in a large ovenproof dish.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Fry the chicken in two batches until brown on both sides. This will take about 10 minutes. Place the browned chicken on top of the potatoes.
4. Add the leek and garlic to the same frying pan and sauté until softened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the dates, olives, wine, capers and parsley, then pour the mixture over the chicken and potatoes. Season with salt and sprinkle with the pepper. Squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken and potatoes and add the lemon halves to the dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Just before serving, microwave, steam or boil the broccoli until tender.
6. Add the silverbeet to the same frying pan, adding more oil if needed, and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until wilted. Season with a squeeze of lemon from the roasting tin and some salt and freshly ground black pepper.
   
7. Serve the broccoli and silverbeet alongside the chicken.

Images and text from The Feel-Good Family Food Plan by Dr Joanna McMillan with Melissa Clark, photography by Alan Benson. Murdoch Books RRP $35

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