My Friend Dianne Strother Boyd was in need of a ‘low fat, yummy chicken recipe,’ so I put this together. When you’re cutting down on fat and/or going low on salt, what you want is something that has some zing to it, that’ll not only have a nice, bold flavor profile, but will also deliver mouth feel – I give you Chicken ala Dianne.
The combination of flavorful dark chicken meat, leaving the skins and bones on, and a sweet, vinegary marinade will do the trick. It’s an easy dish, doesn’t take a lot of prep time other than marinating, and tastes like you worked harder than you did.
When you lose the richness of fat, or the flavor enhancement salt brings, it’s important to compensate with broad brush strokes. With this dish, you get a really nice balance of major taste bases – Sweet, sour, bitter, with lighter touches of umami and salty. You might want to take a look at our Salt Free Seasoning Blends post, too.
So here ya, go, Dianne – Hope you like it, (and Bill, too!)
Chicken ala Dianne
4 bone in, skin on Chicken Thighs (roughly 1 1/2 pounds)
2 Cups fresh Grape Tomatoes (you can rough chop big ones if that’s what you’ve got)
1/4 small sweet Onion
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 Cup Low Sodium Chicken Stock
1 small fresh Lemon
2 Tablespoons Agave Nectar (Honey is fine too)
1 5” to 6” sprig fresh Rosemary
2-3 cloves fresh Garlic
2 Tablespoons Nonpareil Capers, drained
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Freshly ground Pepper.
Zest lemon and cut in quarters.
Trim, peel, and mince garlic.
Trim, peel and dice 1/4 cup of onion.
In a large, non-reactive mixing bowl, combine vinegar, oil, stock, juice from 1/4 of the lemon, the lemon zest, garlic, onion, and honey. Whisk to incorporate.
Add chicken to the mixing bowl and allow to marinate, refrigerated, for 30 minutes, then flip the pieces and marinate for another 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Arrange chicken in a baking pan or casserole dish, and pour marinade over the chicken.
Add the tomatoes to the dish and spread them evenly throughout – Ditto with the capers.
Break the rosemary into two or three pieces and toss that on the chicken.
Season with a few twists of pepper – With capers in there, you really don’t need any more added salt.
Bake on a middle rack until you reach an internal temperature of 160° F, then remove dish from oven and allow a 10 minute rest.
Serve with rice, a green salad, and the remaining lemon slices.
UrbanMonique 