Soon I’m going to have to watch how many dishes I make with chicken thighs, but this one looked really good and it seemed like an easy weeknight dinner.
Palestinian Chicken with Red Onions
- 2 1â„4 skin-on chicken thighs
- 1â„4 cup olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
- 1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons ground sumac, plus more for sprinkling
- 1â„2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1â„2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1â„4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 4 medium garlic cloves, coarsely crushed (1 tablespoon)
- 1 1â„2 teaspoons salt
- 1â„4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large red onions, halved then thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
- 1â„4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Skin side up, use a sharp knife to slash the flesh of each piece of chicken against the grain a few times, then transfer the meat to a large bowl or Ziploc bag. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, sumac, allspice, cumin, cinnamon, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix well, using your hands to rub the marinade into the meat. Add the onion and toss with the chicken, then cover and refrigerate for 1—3 hours.
When you are ready to cook the chicken, set a rack in the top third of the oven and preheat to 350°.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper, then add the chicken, skin-side up. Scatter the onion around the pan. Roast until the chicken skin is deep golden and its juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a paring knife at its thickest parts, 50—60 minutes.
Plate the chicken pieces and onion, sprinkle with the pine nuts, a little sumac, and the chopped parsley, then drizzle with any remaining roasting juices. Serve and enjoy!
My verdict:
This was just about as much work as I felt like doing on a busy (and snowy) Monday. Super easy and delicious! I’m out of pine nuts and forgot the parsley (as you can see from the photos) and it was still good. Pine nuts would give it a nice crunch, so they’ll definitely be added the next time.
Frank liked it, especially with the red onions.
There were some beautiful asparagus at the market so I tossed them in the last of the marinade and roasted them with the chicken for the last 30 minutes.
The recipe called for serving it on naan bread, but it was Monday, so I served it with some leftover basmati rice and that was fine. If you use bread, warm it on a clean baking sheet before serving.
