Bready or Not: Honey Roasted Chicken and Carrots
When bone-in chicken breasts go on sale, I’m really happy for the chance to make this family favorite: Honey Roasted Chicken with Carrots.
This is a fairly healthy recipe. It relies on the chicken skin and a touch of olive oil to keep the chicken tender and moist, with a little more butter added at the end. You can use however many baby carrots you want, though you might not be able to squeeze more than 12 ounces worth into a dish. The carrots end up tender and the slightest bit sweet and caramelized.
I have fresh oregano and rosemary handy, so I like to use one or both of those in this, but you can season this however you want. Dry herbs will rehydrate nicely.
One of the things I love most about this is that the breast pieces are meaty and we’re bound to have leftovers the next day. This tender chicken is delicious in salads, wraps, or sandwiches!
Modified from a recipe published in the Arizona Republic, October 4th 2007.
Bready or Not: Honey Roasted Chicken and Carrots
Ingredients
- 2 - 3 chicken breast halves with bone and skin
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 8 - 12 ounces baby carrots
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 2 - 3 Tablespoons fresh oregano or rosemary, or a few teaspoons dry herbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425-degrees. Set out a large casserole dish. Rub the chicken with enough oil to coat it on both sides, then season with salt and pepper. Place the breasts skin side down in the dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Turn the chicken over--watch out, it will sizzle and pop! Add as many carrots as desired to the pan.
- Bake for another 25 minutes. As the chicken bakes, in a bowl combine the butter, honey, and herbs.
- Turn the chicken over to be skin-side up again. Spoon the butter-honey mix over the chicken and carrots. Roll the carrots around in it for good measure. Roast for an additional 5 minutes.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Cardamom Honey Chicken: A Clockwork Dagger Recipe
In The Clockwork Crown, you meet some of Alonzo Garret’s family. You even find out some of his favorite foods.
“…And tonight, Cook is going to make your very, very favorite, cardamom chicken with cashews, and there will be lemon curd with shortbread for dessert.”
I chose cardamom chicken because 1) I love cardamom, 2) it’s not a common American way to flavor chicken, which sets apart my setting. When I wrote it, I figured that at some point I would need to make the recipe for myself.
Cardamom chicken recipes are out there but vary widely. I decided to combine bits and pieces to create something new. The result was mildly sweet, tender chicken that was fabulous served with its own citrusy drippings. It’s definitely a different taste, but a nice one.
There are lots of options for leftovers, too. Eat it as-is, or chop it up for a salad with a sweet dressing, or add some Greek yogurt or sour cream and make it a chicken salad for a wrap or sandwich. YUM!
I didn’t add any cashews to my chicken, but you certainly could do so to add texture. I suppose at some point I need to do a new shortbread recipe that will pair well with lemon curd, eh?
Bready or Not: Cardamom Honey Chicken: A Clockwork Dagger Recipe
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1/4 cup cooking sherry
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
Main dish
- 1 orange thinly sliced
- salt and pepper
Glaze
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Place marinade and chicken in a large Ziploc bag and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400-degrees. Place orange slices in a casserole dish and lay the chicken tenders on top. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bake chicken for about 15 minutes, flip the tenders, and bake another 10 minutes. Whisk together the glaze ingredients.
- Pull out the chicken and check for doneness; it should be fully cooked at this point. Change the oven to broil and move the rack a bit closer to the top. Brush the glaze over the chicken--use every drop! Put the chicken in to broil for just a few minutes.
- The chicken is delicious on its own or with the sweet pan drippings. You might even want to chop the meat into pieces to allow them to soak in more flavor.
- OM NOM NOM.
Bready or Not: Crock Pot Pesto Ranch Chicken Thighs
I present to you one of my very favorite chicken crock pot recipes, one I previously shared at Novelocity.
Seriously, I’ve been making this about once a month for a few months now. My husband even requests it. This is impressive since he 1) does not like ranch dressing 2) does not eat pesto.
There’s something about the combination in this recipe, though, that is just plain savory and delicious.
This is my go-to meal when I’m on a writing deadline. It mixes up in five minutes and cooks itself over the afternoon, and produces chicken to feed us–quite happily–for days.
Modified from Picky Palate.
Bready or Not: Crock Pot Pesto Ranch Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs 2-3 pounds, thawed or mostly thawed
- 6-8 ounce pesto jar
- 1 packet ranch dressing dry seasoning mix or 3 Tb ranch dressing mix
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Place chicken thighs, pesto, ranch dressing (dry from the packet) and broth into crock pot. Stir gently to coat chicken and combine everything.
- Place lid on top. Cooking tip: It tends to cook in half the time you set on the crock pot, i.e., a 6-hour high setting means the chicken should be done in about 3 hours, depending on how many thighs are in there and how thawed they were to start. Leave thighs whole or chopped. (If you chop, add them into the pot again on warm for 15 minutes so they can soak up more flavor! It's also a great way to make sure they are cooked through--just chop the meat and cook on high a while more.)
These thighs are great with veggies, or in a salad, or cold out of the fridge. They also freeze wonderfully.
OM NOM NOM.
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