Roast Chicken with Pistachios, Peppers and Corn

I love a good roast chicken. I rarely make them because I have it in my head that they are some big to-do, but what could be easier than putting some seasoning on a chicken and throwing it in the oven for an hour, pretty much nothing. I found some interesting sides to go with this chicken that turned out pretty well.

1 2-lb chicken
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs chopped fresh thyme
2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbs chopped fresh sage
1 lemon
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and sage in a small bowl and set aside. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. A dry chicken going into the oven will make the skin crispy. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper and place in a resealable plastic bag. Pour the marinade into the bag and spread over the chicken. Seal and chill for 4-24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450. Place the chicken in a roasting pan and gently pat off some of the excess marinade, leaving the herbs. Stuff the sliced lemon and a few sprigs of thyme into the chicken cavity.

Roast until well browned, 30-35 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 and continue roasting for 30-40 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165 in the thickest part of the thigh. Transfer the chicken to a carving board and let rest 20-30 minutes.

It is very important to let the chicken rest before slicing it to keep the juices inside. This will deliver an absurdly juicy chicken with beautiful golden skin.

For the sides I made a chopped pistachio concoction to eat with the chicken, simulating a pistachio crust on the chicken. I was really quite impressed with this, the flavors really complimented each other well and it gave the chicken a completely different flavor if you ate it alone or with the pistachios. I also made a side of peppers and corn that was pretty tasty, not quite as flavorful as I was anticipating, but still good.


For the pistachios, this is enough for 2 servings of chicken

3/4 cup coarsely chopped unsalted shelled pistachios
¼ cup thinly sliced chives
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs olive oil
Salt to taste


Peppers and corn

2 bell peppers, cut into thin strips (I used 1 orange and 1 yellow, but I think I should have done red and orange, the yellow just didn’t add much flavor)
1 cup red onion, diced
1 tbs olive oil
1 jalepeno, diced
1 can corn
1 tbs flat leaf parsley
2 tbs red wine vinegar

Saute the onions in the olive oil over medium heat until tender, not quite browned. Add the bell
peppers and jalepeno and season to taste with salt and pepper and cook until soft, about 10-12 minutes. Add the corn, parsley and vinegar just before serving. One tip that I learned in a cooking class is you should be seasoning your vegetables every time you add something new to the skillet. This way the seasoning cooks into the vegetables as they are cooking, rather than coating the surface of something that is already cooked. So salt and pepper your onions, then when you add the peppers, salt and pepper again.

A few times a week I like to make something kind of large so we have a couple days worth of leftovers to eat for lunch, and this works well for that.

The entire dinner is about 800 calories. If you ditch the pistachios (or just use less than I made) you’ll save about 330 calories. The amount of calories in those pistachios took me by surprise.