This recipe takes a bit longer for a usual weeknight dinner, so I prefer to do this for our Friday sabbath dinner. We occasionally have neighbors over, so this recipe (Chicken With Date) works the best! My family does not love mixing dry fruits with protein. However, date is a big exception to that rule.
The original recipe is from Alison Roman’s book Nothing Fancy – one-pot chicken with date.
As you know, we love (and only eat!) dark meat here. Whole Chicken Legs get fried with only two tablespoons of oil. Chicken legs will release a lot of fat here. Then those crisp fried legs go to the oven with caramelized shallots, lemon, wine, and California Dates! Can you just imagine? You have not heard the best part yet – it’s ONE POT!
The bitterness of lemon (it’s not at all bitter if you remove the seeds) is so well balanced with the sweetness of dates and shallots. Plus, eating dates adds fiber, nutrients and antioxidants, and other polyphenols to the diet. This is paired with a fantastic spinach salad and couscous.
I don’t think salads ever need a recipe! This is how we make our spinach salad. We always have bags of baby spinach at fridge. Put vinegar, chopped onion, and dates in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt and mix well with your hands. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the pita and almonds and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring all the time. Otherwise, it will burn! The pita should be crunchy and brown.
When you are ready to serve, toss the spinach leaves with the pita mix in a large salad bowl (preferably a wooden one). Add the dates and red onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, sumac, and chile flakes. This is from the book Jerusalem .
You can find more date recipes here.
Chicken With Date, Caramelized Onion And Lemon – Amazing Weeknight Dinner!
4
servings30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
8 chicken legs
2 tablespoon olive oil for frying
1 lemon, cut into 1/4” thick slices, seeded
2 shallots, peeled halved lengthwise (or one red onion, peeled and cut into wedges)
1 entire garlic, separated into cloves (adjust according to your taste)
4–6 dates, pitted
4 sprigs thyme or oregano, plus more for serving
1–2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup wine
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper generously. I prefer to do this on a rimmed baking sheet. Heat oil in a large (at least 5.5 qt) dutch oven over medium–high heat. Place chicken, legs side down and using tongs press lightly to make sure the skin comes into even contact with the pot.
- Cook, without moving, until chicken is nice and browned, 5– 8 minutes. Cook in batches until all chicken legs are done cooking.
- In the same oil add lemon slices. Let the lemons sizzle in the chicken fat until caramelized on one side, about 2 minutes. Add onion slices and whole peeled garlic cloves. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add wine and chicken legs back to the pot. Add dates now as well.
- Place dutch oven in the oven and roast until the dates are plump, the lemon is jammy and the chicken is almost but not totally cooked through, 20–25 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let chicken rest in the dutch oven for 10 minutes before serving. Serve alongside shallots, lemons, and dates with some more oregano sprinkled over. We love this with couscous.
Notes
- We are garlic lover here so we use an entire head of garlic in this recipe. If you don’t love the taste, you can skip it totally or use 1-2 cloves.
