Lemony Kale Chicken with Good Sourdough & Dressed Beetroot.
A one pan roast chicken dinner recipe with a few optional extras!
To my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! And to everyone else? Happy non-rainy (for once!) Thursday! Now I’m done with my invigorating walk in the woods I’ve got a great recipe (well, actually pair of recipes) for you today which will brighten up any autumn / winter weeknight packed with seasonal veg because this month here on ingredient we’re focusing on curly kale: one of my favourite colder weather brassicas whose shape is perfect for collecting flavours and sauces, but which I think is often overlooked by fancier greens such as Cavelo Nero, frilly Savoy cabbages and the vibrance of those last few bunches of rainbow chard.
You can already find the recipe for my super customisable, make-ahead friendly White Bean, Bacon & Kale Soup here, and stay tuned for a third and final recipe, which might still be Chinese takeaway-style fried kale, but which is looking more likely to be a winter-friendly kale salad. Do upgrade your subscription to unlock every recipe in the ingredient archive, and of course to help funding the free part of what I post here! No creative likes asking for money, but without it ingredient can’t function.
Also, a little something else for paid subscribers, on Monday night I’ll be joining the brilliant
from for a cosy chat at our virtual kitchen tables. We’ll be talking about our favourite seasonal ingredients, sharing some autumnal recipe inspiration, and we’ll both be bringing along some homemade booze! You can sign up to attend below, and for those of you who can’t make it we’re going to do our best to record it to share afterwards.
My favourite ingredients change with my mood and the seasons, and whilst I’m still quite the way into a love affair with lamb chops, if you had to ask me my favourite piece of protein to work with on a weeknight, I don’t think my answer is ever going to change from skin on, bone in chicken thighs, the perfect size for two to make a portion, with the best bit of meat on the entire bird, and a beautiful skin ready to be crisped to perfection, sometimes first in the pan, but often just by itself in a hot oven.
As we’re focusing on kale this month today I’m showing you how delicious it can be slightly braised in chicken juices (helped along by a splash of white wine and a hit of fresh lemon) whilst the meat cooks through and the skin crisps. Yes it becomes a bit brown, yes it’s not that pretty, but served with some very good bread (or even mashed potato) to mop up those violently lemony juices and possibly a side salad if that is what you’re in the mood for, it is a roast chicken dinner to lift the mood.
And did I mention that the top bits of the kale get nice and crispy too?
The very good bread in question today comes from Gilda Bakery in Bishopsbourne which, if you live in these parts, you’ll recognise popping up in various food halls, markets and on local restaurant menus since they opened last year. In a world where so much sourdough has too much crust, not enough flavour, or too much starter added for a frankly overwhelming tang there is something incredibly wholesome and satisfying about having one of their good, honest loaves on the kitchen counter.
It was my first visit to their busy bakery proper yesterday, and I can also highly recommend their Danish pastries, currently garnished with inky, juicy blackberries.
Also on the table I mentioned that you could add a salad. Now, this is not 100% necessary as you’ve got leeks and kale in with the chicken, after all, but when I revived this recipe for this newsletter the other week (it used to be something I made in our last London rental with it’s terribly temperamental oven but it fell out of rotation when lockdown hit) I just knew the deep, earthy flavour of the beetroots I had going soft in the vegetable drawer would be the perfect partner. I was right: simply dressed with red wine vinegar, good olive oil and molasses you’d think the tang would be too much next to the lemony chicken, but actually, it all lands together very well. Enjoy!
Lemony Kale Chicken with Dressed Beetroot & Sourdough
Serves: 2, Preparation time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 50 minutes
The measurements here will make a good dinner for two people. If you’ve got any of the beetroot salad leftover, toast a piece of the sourdough the next day, top it with good, thick Greek yogurt, pile it on and finish with a scattering of fresh dill, if you happen to have some to hand.
For the Lemony Kale Chicken