Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
A QUICK DINNER FOR FOUR
How can you make a decent family dinner at speed with few nutritional compromises and minimal washing-up, you ask? Here’s the answer!
To make this dinner for four, you will need:
8 chicken thighs
2 medium onions
2 large carrots
4 sweet potatoes
1 medium butternut
4 beetroot
2 small potatoes Extra-virgin olive oil Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons of fresh basil and mint
1 or 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Select a medium-sized glass or ceramic oven dish. Arrange the eight chicken thighs in it, skin side up. If you are happy to lose some flavour, discard the skin. Lightly drizzle a little extra-virgin olive oil over the thighs, then season with a light sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper. Complete the seasoning with a couple of crystals of coarse salt over each thigh.
2 Peel and quarter the onions. Quarter the unpeeled potatoes. Peel the carrots and sweet potatoes, then cut them into 50mm sections. Peel and de-pip the butternut, then cut the remainder into 25mm cubes. Peel and quarter the beetroot.
3 Finely chop the basil and mint, and combine in a small bowl with the lemon juice. Make sure you have enough for three tablespoons. Cover and reserve.
4 Arrange the vegetables in a large glass or ceramic oven dish, or alternatively two medium-sized oven dishes. Ensure that the vegetables are in a single layer. As with the thighs, lightly drizzle with olive oil or canola or sunflower oil, and season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5 Let the chicken and vegetables roast in the oven for 40 minutes, turning the vegetables once at half time. Check the chicken thighs at 40 minutes by sticking a skewer into one of them near the bone to see if it’s cooked. If the juices run clear, the chicken is ready. If pink, give the chicken another five minutes and check it again before serving.
6 Serve two thighs on each plate and add a couple of spoonfuls of the caramelised roast vegetables. Spoon a little of the basil and mint over the vegetables. Serve with plain white rice, drizzled with juice from the chicken and vegetable roasting dishes.