About this Lemon and Oregano Chicken recipe
If you’re in a pinch for time, bakes are a great option — just throw the ingredients in a pan, pop it in the oven, and the rest is done for you. This Lemon and Oregano Chicken bake by Monya is no exception. It’s a one-dish dinner loaded with nutrients that you will most definitely want to make again.
Ingredients
- 4 large chicken thighs, skin on
- Salt, to taste
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
- 500g cauliflower florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 lemon
- 75g cherry tomatoes, halved
- Pink Himalayan salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- Handful of oregano, finely chopped
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 180°C / 355°F.
- Second, season the chicken thighs on all sides with salt. Then, heat half of the oil in a large pan and once hot, cook the chicken sides skin-side down until the skin is golden and crispy. Turn each chicken thigh over and cook the underside briefly, approximately 1 min.
- Then, remove the chicken thighs and spread out on a large roasting tray skin-side up. (Use a very large roasting dish as we are adding more things to it later.) Do not discard the oil and rendered fat in the pan where the chicken was cooking.
- Next, add the onion wedges to the roasting dish and brush with a little rendered fat and oil from the chicken pan. (Still, do not discard any remaining oil, we will still use it.) Place the dish in the oven for 20 minutes. TOP TIP for cutting the onion wedges: Ensure the root is intact on all 8 wedges – this helps them keep their shape when cooking.
- While the chicken is cooking away in the oven, heat the remaining oil in a large pan and tip in the blitzed cauliflower. Cook, stirring regularly, until the cauliflower softens and completely cooks through, approx. 8-10 minutes. Add the reserved rendered fat and oil from the chicken pan into the cauliflower (why waste it, right?) and keep warm over low heat. Use a microplane to finely grate in most of the zest a large lemon.
- Then, halve the lemon and squeeze in the juice from one half (catch the pips!). Stir well and remove the pan from the heat.
- After the chicken has been in the oven for 20 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and increase the oven to 200°C / 390°F.
- Using tongs, remove and place the (still only partially-cooked) chicken onto a large plate on the side, along with the red onion wedges. Tip the cauliflower mixture into the roasting tray and mix with all the pan juices. Return the chicken and red onion wedges to the dish, nestling them into the cauliflower. Scatter over the halved cherry tomatoes.
- Return the dish to the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes until the chicken has sufficiently cooked through. A meat thermometer probe is useful here, remove from the oven when the internal temperature reads 72°C / 163°F in the thickest part of the chicken.
- To serve, finely grate over a little more lemon zest and season the dish with Pink Himalayan Salt and freshly ground black pepper. And, for the star of the show, generously scatter over finely chopped fresh oregano. Serve with a simple green salad, if needed.
