Healthy Holiday Food Recipes: Aromatic Citrus Chicken

What’s for dinner this festive season? Sometimes it can be hard to figure out what to serve your family and friends for dinner, especially if you’re looking to serve something that’s both delicious and healthy. Thankfully, we have the perfect chicken recipe that will leave your guests, and their health, satisfied.

Aromatic Citrus Chicken

Taken from the “Cooking from the Heart: DASH Edition Cookbook” courtesy of Pharma Dynamics, this flavorful chicken dish is so easy to prepare, and this cooking method keeps the chicken juicy. The combination of tomato paste, citrus, spices, and tangy apricots is so good.

Ingredients

• 8-10 dried apricots, quartered
• 1⁄2 cup (125 ml) strong warm Rooibos tea
• 1 × 50 g (50 ml) sachet tomato paste
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
• finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange (see tip)
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice
• 2 tsp (10 ml) finely grated lemon rind
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp (5 ml) ground coriander
• 1 tsp (5 ml) ground cumin
• 4 tsp (20 ml) paprika
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) chopped fresh parsley
• 1,3 kg chicken breasts on the bone, excess fat removed (about 6-8 portions)
• 1 orange in the skin, cut into thin wedges
• black pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Soak apricots in Rooibos tea for 20 minutes, or until plump.
2. Mix tomato paste, oil, both citrus juices and rinds, garlic, spices, and parsley together.
3. Place chicken with apricots and any leftover Rooibos tea in a large mixing bowl. Pour the marinade over and toss well. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
5. Spoon chicken with all the marinade into an oven dish. Place orange wedges in between the chicken and season with pepper.
6. Cover with foil and roast for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and roast for another 15-20 minutes, or until just cooked, but still juicy.
7. Serve chicken and orange wedges with some sauce on a small portion of the mash on the opposite page. Or enjoy any healthy side of your choice.

Alternative:

1. If oranges are not in season, replace the orange juice with stronger Rooibos tea and add another 15 ml lemon rind. Replace the orange wedges with 1 onion and cut them into wedges.
2. If the apricots are very dry, soak them for 30 minutes.

TIPS

Serves 6 | Ready in 2 hours (including marinating time)