by Susan Hanna
This delicious recipe from NYT Cooking yields succulent chicken and crispy golden rice, all on a single sheet pan. Make a lemon-garlic-ginger-turmeric marinade and set 1 tbsp (15 ml) aside. Use the rest to marinate the chicken for a few minutes while you toss cooked rice with salt, scallions and oil. Spread the rice on the sheet pan and top with the chicken. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes. Add lemon juice and oil to the reserved marinade and drizzle onto the rice. Serve topped with more scallions and chopped cilantro. Cook’s note: I substituted long-grain rice for the short-grain rice. If you do the same, watch it carefully as it can brown and dry out more quickly than plumper grains of short-grain rice.
Avoiding Additives and Preservatives
Use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Check the spices to make sure they don’t contain colour or anti-caking agents. For more recipes using all-natural ingredients, visit Eye For a Recipe.
Ingredients:
¼ cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice, plus more for serving
6 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh ginger (from 1 2-inch/5-cm piece), finely grated or minced
3 teaspoons (15 ml) kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal or use 1 ½ teaspoons (7.5 ml) coarse kosher salt, such as Morton), more as needed
2 teaspoons (10 ml) ground turmeric
2 teaspoons (10 ml) ground coriander
1 teaspoon (5 ml) freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds (900 g) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
5 cups cooked short-grain rice (such as sushi rice)
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
5 tablespoons (75 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
½ cup (125 ml) chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
Preparation:
Place sheet pan on middle rack in oven and heat oven to 450 degrees F (232 C).
While the oven is heating, marinate the chicken. In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, garlic, ginger, 1 ½ teaspoons (7.5 ml) of the salt, turmeric, coriander and pepper, and mix well. Transfer 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the turmeric-ginger mixture to a small bowl and set aside for serving. To the large bowl, add chicken and toss until the pieces are well coated; let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, toss the cooked rice with the remaining 1 ½ teaspoons (7.5 ml) salt, scallion whites and 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of extra-virgin olive oil (the best way to do this is with clean hands). Add a little more oil if needed to fully coat the rice so that it crisps up in the oven.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil to the chicken pieces, tossing well to coat.
Use a large spoon to carefully spread the rice out on the hot sheet pan, then make divots in the rice for the chicken, making sure the sheet pan is exposed. Place chicken, skin side up, in the divots touching the pan. Drizzle the rice and chicken with a little more extra-virgin olive oil.
Roast until the chicken is deeply browned on top, cooked through and the rice is crisp at the edges, 40 to 50 minutes.
Stir a little more lemon juice and olive oil into the reserved turmeric-ginger mixture to thin it out. Use a spoon to dab or drizzle it onto the rice (not the chicken). Stir up the rice on the baking sheet, so the crisp parts get mixed into the soft part of the rice, and the turmeric mixture gets distributed. (Taste rice and add a little more oil, lemon juice and salt if necessary; rice can take a lot of seasoning.) Top everything with scallion greens and chopped fresh cilantro and serve. Serves 4.
From NYT Cooking
