Some of my best Sunday dinners begin with two humble ingredients in my grocery-store shopping cart that I build a meal around.
A recent example of that started with me picking up some chicken legs and a can of cannellini beans, both budget-friendly items.
One of my favourite ways to prepare chicken legs is to marinate them with Mediterranean-style flavours, then roast them until they’re beautifully coloured and succulent. I already had ingredients at home to prepare them that way, such as oranges, olive oil and spices including cumin and coriander. But my marinade also needed a fresh herb taste that would work with those flavours. The mint at the store looked good, so in my cart it went.
As for the beans, a source of fibre, protein and minerals such as iron, I decided to use them in a stew-like side dish to serve with the chicken. I also had ingredients at home that would work with them, such as tomato, onion, garlic, stock and spices, but felt the beans also needed something green. I chose kale, because I knew this nutritious vegetable would pair with the beans, and its earthy taste would balance the richness of the chicken, particularly its lovely skin.
Speaking of that skin, there has thankfully been some pushback from a number of reputable sources on the notion that, to eat more healthfully, you should not eat chicken skin or that you should even remove it before cooking the chicken.
The Harvard School of Public Health website, hsph.harvard.edu, now says there’s no need to strip the skin. It said most of the fat in chicken skin is healthy, unsaturated fat, and cooking with the skin keeps the chicken flavourful and moist, so you don’t need to add as much salt or use a breaded coating.
An article on Nutrition Myths posted at cookinglight.com agrees, saying the long-standing, healthy-eating command to strip poultry of its skin before eating doesn’t hold up under a nutritional microscope. They say a 12-ounce bone-in, skin-on chicken breast half contains just 2.5 grams of saturated fat and 50 calories more than its similarly portioned skinless counterpart.
My recipe, of course, uses chicken legs, but the skin is not unlike that of a chicken breast. That said, my recipe does ask you to trim off any excess, loose skin on the legs, but I only did that to ensure you end up with a nice-looking piece of chicken when it’s cooked.
In my recipe, I’ve given you the option to serve the chicken with harissa, a spicy, aromatic, chili-based sauce/paste that’s used as a condiment/flavouring in North African and Middle Eastern cooking. It’s sold in the ethnic-foods aisle of some supermarkets and at Mediterranean-style food stores.
Orange, Mint and Spice Roasted Chicken Legs
Bright orange, refreshing mint and aromatic spices combine in the marinade for these succulent roasted chicken legs. Serve them with the cannellini bean recipe below.
Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus marinating time
Cooking time: 45 to 50 minutes
Makes: Four servings
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
3 Tbsp orange juice
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (see Note 1)
4 large whole chicken legs, trimmed of any loose flaps of skin
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• fresh mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)
• harissa, to taste (optional; see Note 2)
Combine the first nine ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Cover, refrigerate and marinate two to four hours, turning the legs occasionally.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Set the chicken legs, skin-side up, on a non-stick baking pan or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush the legs with any marinade left in the bowl; season with salt and pepper. Roast legs 45 to 50 minutes, or until cooked through.
If desired, serve the chicken and bean recipe below with a spoonful or two of harissa, and garnish with mint sprigs, if using.
Note 1: If you don’t have fresh mint, you could use 1 tsp of more intense-tasting dried mint. If you don’t care for mint, fresh or dried oregano will also work in this recipe.
Note 2: Harissa is sold in the ethnic-foods aisle of some supermarkets and at Mediterranean-style food stores. I bought it at Thrifty Foods and the brand I used was Mina, which came in a range of spice levels.
Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes and Kale
Budget-friendly canned cannellini (white kidney) beans anchor this side dish strewn with bits of tomatoes and kale. Beyond today’s chicken recipe, the beans could also be served with such things as grilled lamb chops, roasted sausages and baked fish fillets.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: About 15 minutes
Makes: Four side-dish servings
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium yellow or red onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 ripe, medium tomato, cut into small cubes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
• pinch ground cayenne pepper
1 cup chicken stock
3 to 4 cups loosely-packed, coarsely chopped, fresh kale leaves, tough rib and stem portions removed
1 (19 oz./540 mL) can cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained well, rinsed in cold water and drained well again
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Place the oil in a medium pot (mine was eight inches wide) set over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and garlic and cook until tender, about four minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, cumin and cayenne and cook and stir two minutes more.
Add the stock, kale and beans, bring to a simmer, then cover and cook five to seven minutes, or until the kale is tender. Add a bit more stock to the pot if you would like the beans to be brothier. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His latest is The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook (Appetite by Random House). His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
