Roast Chicken with Chickpeas, Leeks and Lemon, Easy and a Crowd Pleaser
Are you looking for a weeknight dinner recipe that pleases everybody, and it’s complete and nutritious? Or are you looking for a party recipe that everyone will talk about, and will look beautiful on presentation? Then look no further, roast chicken with chickpeas, leeks and lemon is that dish.
The trick for a super tasty and moist chicken is the spice rub, letting the chicken absorb all the spice flavors for a few hours before placing it in the oven. Then, while roasting, all the goodness of the chicken juices meld with the chickpeas, rendering them deliciously savory. Squeeze the lemon, which flavor has intensified with the roasting, and make it a memorable dish. All this goodness from these humble ingredients! I like to get organic chickens, for an extra level of tenderness.
These days, I’m looking for these kind of recipes: very tasty but not very time consuming on my part. With minimal chopping, this recipe basically requires you to mix some spices and to open two cans of chickpeas. Can it be easier?
I talked about the busyness of the month of May in my previous post, and I am right now in the middle of it, organizing, planning, and preparing for Ethan‘s graduation, for the extra activities with the end of the school year for David, and looking forward to Matthew’s return from study abroad in Switzerland (he, on the other hand, would rather stay there, having been bitten by the Europe bug; but that’s another story!) We will have visitors from Spain and from Canada in a few days, and then the hoopla and celebration of the graduation festivities. The recipe for roast chicken with chickpeas, leeks and lemon is a timesaver, and a crowdpleaser. Double the amounts for a larger crowd, with the same amount of effort. Voilá!
ROAST CHICKEN WITH CHICKPEAS, LEEKS AND LEMON
Pollo Asado con Garbanzos, Puerros y Limón
Ingredients:
1 fresh chicken
1 Tbs pimentón de la Vera
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp dry thyme
1 Tbs kosher salt
3 leeks, white and light green parts
1/4 cup olive oil
6 or 7 cloves garlic
2 lemons
2 14-oz canned chickpeas
Kosher salt and black pepper
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Combine the pimentón de la Vera, pepper, garlic powder, sugar, dry thyme and kosher salt in a small bowl. Rub the chicken inside and out with this mixture, making sure all surfaces and crevices are well spiced. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs together, pull the string around the front and tie around the breast. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
Place chicken on a rack in a roasting pan and drizzle with 2 Tbs olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes.
In a large bowl, add the chickpeas and cloves of garlic, season with kosher salt and pepper and drizzle with 1 Tbs olive oil.
Slice the leeks lengthwise and cut the lemons in half transversally.
Remove pan from the oven, carefully lift the chicken and remove the rack. Return the chicken to the pan, and spread the chickpeas around the chicken. Arrange the leeks and the lemons cut side up, drizzle with olive oil and season with a bit of salt and pepper.
Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes or until a thermometer inserted between the thigh and the leg reads 170ºF.
Remove pan from the oven, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut in portions and serve.
