A Month-of-Mediterranean: Orange Chicken with Crispy Green Beans

Okay, so this has some sugar. And, as we know, we are trying to limit sugar while eating in the Med-Diet style. But, sometimes, a dish is so tasty that it is worth it. In fact, as you read the ingredients list, can’t you just imagine the bursts of varied flavors?

And, sugar once in a while is not the problem. It’s the regular consumption of bad fats and sugar and processed foods that will get you. In this recipe, the Mediterranean Diet principles are adhered to with the exception of the orange marmalade. But if it bothers you, just skip this one.

I make a similar marinade/sauce for our grillled pork tenderloin. Fruit and pork just go together, but we don’t usually think of chicken with fruit. Sometimes, but not usually.

I pretty much followed the recipe from the “My Recipes” site, with just a few modifications. I did halve the recipe since we weren’t having company, and the original served eight people. I used olive oil not canola. I didn’t cook the orange sauce before using. I added more or less of the sauce ingredients to fit our taste. Also, I didn’t use the chili-garlic sauce on the beans as called for in the original recipe. I brushed on the orange glaze instead. Hmm. I guess I did make quite a few changes.

Next time I’ll only use the chili-garlic sauce and brush it on both the chicken and the beans. And then a THIRD time I’ll do the original recipe with both orange-glaze and chili garlic. And maybe a fourth time, I’ll mix them together for both chicken and beans. And maybe a fifth time . . . well, that’s just the way my brain works. Below is my first modified recipe.

Orange Chicken Crispy Green Beans (serve 4)

4 chicken thighs

2 teaspoons olive oil

½ cup orange marmalade

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon hot mustard

½ teaspoon sesame oil

Salt and pepper

8 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub chicken thighs with olive oil and place on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

 

Wash and trim the beans.

Bake chicken for about 35 minutes (meat thermometer 165 degrees).

While chicken is baking, mix together marmalade, soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot mustard, and sesame oil. Reserve a tablespoon of the sauce in a separate small bowl. Brush ½ the remaining sauce on the

green beans.

Remove chicken pan from oven and put beans on all sides. Using the remaining sauce from the green beans brush it on both tops and bottoms of the chicken. Sprinkle on more salt and pepper on green beans and on glazed chicken.

Put the oven on broil (500 degrees) and return baking pan to oven. Broil about three minutes to get beans tender and a nice brown crust on the chicken.

Serve the reserved sauce alongside to put on plated chicken.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

“Put this into the rotation!” I agree. This is a company-worthy chicken dish. Tons of flavor that gives chicken, as DH said, “a distinctive taste.”

Special Sunday: Roast Chicken

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Sunday dinner was often chicken when I was a child. Fried chicken, that is. In lard, of course. My mother never roasted the bird. She left that for the Thanksgiving turkey. Beats me why it never occurred to her she could roast chicken, too.

Even if she had, however, I’d put money on her not ever preparing it like I do as a slow roast to keep it juicy and moist. Unfortunately, it did get a little done-r than I’d like as the picture shows, but with those roasted Brussel sprouts, it was mighty tasty and made enough for the two of us to have other chicken meals with the leftovers. I call this my Norman Rockwell Roast Chicken because it is so bedrock American.

Norman Rockwell Roast Chicken (serves 6)

3-4# roasting chicken, washed and patted dry inside and out

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 tablespoon pepper

Preheat oven to 250º. Spray non-stick cooking spray on a baking dish or pan big enough so the chicken doesn’t touch the sides.

Spread butter over the outside. Rub it on every surface. Any drippings in the pan can be used to spread around inside the chicken.

Mix together the salt and pepper and sprinkle half inside and half on the top of the chicken.

Roast for 3-3 ½ hours. Check temperature. The chicken is done at 165º internal temperature.

Put the au jus from the chicken over the top. Let sit 10 minutes. Carve and serve with pan juices.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

He always takes the breast meat first. I always take a leg/thigh section. He also pulls off the crispy skin (where the fat is), and I eat it all. We’re funny that way! “It’s a simple meal, but I feel so virtuous eating something so plain, with no sauces.” And no crispy, crunchy, fatty skin, big boy!

Month-of-Few Ingredients: Going Green Chicken Enchiladas

If you read many of these food posts, you know that DH is a huge fan of southwestern cuisine. Huuuge! While I do not claim to be a Mexican cook nor a Hispanic cook of any stripe, I do know the flavors and textures well. I simulate authentic dishes, I don’t replicate, if that makes sense.

When I serve this entrée, we have black beans and Mexicorn for sides. I serve the enchiladas with a variety of toppings. You can use black olives, plain yogurt or sour cream, tomatoes, shredded lettuce or cabbage, avocado slices, and guacamole. 

We begin with a cheese crisp and then move onto dinner. A cheese crisp recipe is tomorrow.

Chicken Enchiladas (serves 4)

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

15 ounce can of green chile enchilada sauce (whatever heat you like); divided

1 ½ cup Mexican blend cheese, shredded; divided

8 corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a 9”x13” baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Ladle one-quarter of enchilada sauce in bottom of dish.

Add a scant cup of green enchilada sauce to the chicken mixture. Blend thoroughly, then add in one

cup of cheese. Mix well.

Warm the tortillas so they’re easier to fold. Spoon chicken mixture down middle of tortilla, then fold up the sides and lay seam-side down on enchilada sauce in the baking dish.

Spoon remaining sauce over the enchiladas covering all exposed tortilla edges. Evenly spread remaining one-half cup cheese over the sauce.

Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned on top. Serve immediately with your favorite condiments and sides.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up! “This is always good, every time you make it. But it seems better tonight. Did you do something different?” I told him I used Hatch’s green chile enchilada sauce instead of the one he’s used to. He is so pleased when I make something with a Southwest flair. I went right out and bought more cans of Hatch’s green chile enchilada sauce.

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Facebook: Sharon Arthur Moore-Author writes the “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time” blog. It's posting its annual February Month-of recipes. This month's recipes have 2-5 ingredients. You’ll love these Going Green Chicken Enchiladas at http://bit.ly/2kIqnwl

A reminder:

House rules for what counts as an ingredient:

Salt and pepper are not ingredients.

Oil is not an ingredient when it’s for the cooking pan, not the recipe.

Water is not an ingredient.