Pretty and delicious!

Mediterranean Roasted Chicken

3 Cans Cannelini Beans, Drained and Rinsed

4 Pieces Chicken*

2 Lemons, VERY Thinly Sliced (Peels left on)

2 Pints Grape Tomatoes

1/3 C Olive Oil

4 Cloves Garlic, Pressed or Grated

2 tsp Paprika

2 tsp Ground Criander

2 tsp Dried Oregano

2 tsp Ground Cumin

2 tsp Curry Powder

2 tsp Sriracha

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 C Cilantro, chopped

1/2 C Plain Greek Yogurt

2 Ripe Avocados

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 tsp Olive Oil

Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine 1/3 C olive oil, garlic, Sriracha, salt and all spices. Make sure that all of the spices are well combined with the olive oil. Dip one side of the chicken pieces (I use boneless, skinless chicken breast, but you can use any cut you like.)

Placed the chicken, seasoned side up, in a large roasting pan.

Add the tomatoes, beans, and lemons to the bowl with the seasoning. Gently stir to coat everything with seasoning mixture. Stir in half of the chopped cilantro. Pour the beans mixture into the roasting pan, and pull the chicken pieces out to rest on top of the mixture. I like to fish out a lemon slice to put on top of each piece of chicken. It’s prettier for presentation that way!

Roast, uncovered, for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. You may have to adjust cooking time if you use chicken pieces that have the bone in them.

Once everything is assembled, you can also cover with foil and place in the fridge overnight. This is an excellent dish to just toss in the oven on a busy week night!

While the chicken is roasting, blend the avocado, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, and 2 tsp olive oil together until smooth. I use a stick blender for this, but you could also use a fork or a potato masher as well. Add salt to taste. Set aside.

To serve, spoon a fourth of the bean mixture onto a plate or into a shallow bowl. Place one chicken piece on top of mixture. Sprinkle the whole plate with chopped cilantro, and a fourth of the avocado mixture on the side. (If you don’t like cilantro, parsley would be just fine!)

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This recipe is an absolute favorite at my house, and is very often requested! Once while I had it in the oven, a neighbor stopped Robert to ask him what I was cooking. She said it smelled amazing, and asked for the recipe! I was happy to share, because why would I keep this deliciousness from anyone? Also, if you have leftovers, they heat up nicely the following day. What more could you ask for in a recipe?

The recipe that I used originally was one that I found on the cafe sucre farine. They have tons of fabulous recipes that are “company worthy” and not a ton of fuss to make. I altered a few things to better suit the tastes of my household. For starters, I love cannelini beans, so I added an extra can. The seasoning mixture got doubled, because it is SO good, I needed more! I also make extra avocado sauce. It is delicious, and makes for a cool compliment for the flavors in this dish. It is also very good for pretzel dipping the next day!

This isn’t a difficult recipe, and the results are delicious. The presentation is very appealing, and would be worthy of pretty much any company you have over for dinner! The fact that you can prepare it the day before and roast it just before serving is a major bonus! (Just be sure to remove the foil before roasting - the top doesn’t get all toasty and brown if you don’t because everything steams instead of roasting.) Your house will smell so amazing that your neighbors will be jealous. We also figured out that if you cube chicken breast and marinate it in the spice mixture, it makes the best chicken ever on the grill!

This recipe is an absolute favorite at my house, and is very often requested! Once while I had it in the oven, a neighbor stopped Robert to ask him what I was cooking. She said it smelled amazing, and asked for the recipe! I was happy to share, because why would I keep this deliciousness from anyone? Also, if you have leftovers, they heat up nicely the following day. What more could you ask for in a recipe?

The recipe that I used originally was one that I found on the cafe sucre farine. They have tons of fabulous recipes that are “company worthy” and not a ton of fuss to make. I altered a few things to better suit the tastes of my household. For starters, I love cannelini beans, so I added an extra can. The seasoning mixture got doubled, because it is SO good, I needed more! I also make extra avocado sauce. It is delicious, and makes for a cool compliment for the flavors in this dish. It is also very good for pretzel dipping the next day!

This isn’t a difficult recipe, and the results are delicious. The presentation is very appealing, and would be worthy of pretty much any company you have over for dinner! The fact that you can prepare it the day before and roast it just before serving is a major bonus! (Just be sure to remove the foil before roasting - the top doesn’t get all toasty and brown if you don’t because everything steams instead of roasting.) Your house will smell so amazing that your neighbors will be jealous. We also figured out that if you cube chicken breast and marinate it in the spice mixture, it makes the best chicken ever on the grill! In both applications, yes, you eat the lemons, peels and all! Just trust me on this one!