Serves 6.

This is great for a dinner party as there is so little
to do, but so much flavour.  You can leave the
chicken to marinade all day if you want to, but if
you do you must be sure to bring the dish to room
temperature before you begin cooking it.


Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs
125 ml chicken stock
1 unwaxed lemon
2 oranges
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 sprigs rosemary
½ tsp salt
a few grindings of black pepper
2 410g tins of cooked lentils, drained
2 packs rocket, or spinach/rocket/watercress
salad (200gs)
1 tbsp olive oil


Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.  Cut the oranges
and lemon into quarters, and gently squeeze some
of the juice out of them into a small bowl.  Add the
chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to
this bowl, and mix well.

Cut each citrus piece into half again.  Arrange the
chicken pieces in a large baking dish: they
shouldn’t overlap each other.  Tuck the orange and
half of the lemon pieces, and three of the rosemary
sprigs, in between the chicken thighs (reserve the
other pieces of lemon).  Pour over the citrus/stock
mixture, cover with tin foil and place in the centre
of the oven for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil, baste
the chicken pieces with the juice that’s collected in
the bottom of the dish; then turn the heat up to
200°C/390°F and cook for another 20 minutes to
brown the chicken.

When the chicken is done (if pierced with a skewer,
the juices should run clear), turn off the oven, remove
the chicken and gently squash the citrus pieces to
release a little more juice (don’t mash them!).  
Carefully pour or ladle all the juices into a saucepan.  
Re-cover the chicken with the tinfoil and leave it to
rest in the oven with the door ajar.

Boil the chicken juices vigorously for a few minutes,
then tip the lentils into the pan with the remaining
sprig of rosemary and warm them through, checking
for salt and pepper.  Serve with the rocket or green
salad, dressed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper,
and the juice squeezed out of the reserved lemon
pieces.

Per Serving:
CALORIES: 350.33
FAT: 10.55
PROTEINS: 31.69
CARBOHYDRATES: 33.49



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Photography by Dan Welldon www.danwelldon.com