Less than once a month we’ll eat some form of meat. Today was that day, and our meat of choice was chicken. We went to a local butchers and bought two fresh, juicy chicken breasts (we don’t even keep meat in the house lol) – I simply spiced them up with an instant marinade of pomegranate molasses, smoked paprika, flakes of sea salt amongst other things, which create a tangy coating and a kind of sweet-tart gravy which you can spoon over the dish to serve – a sauce so good you could just drink it with a spoon 🙂
If you’ve never heard of pomegranate molasses before its a black treacle like liquid (but runnier) which comes in bottles in your local middle eastern food store. In persian it’s called robb anar, in arabic it’s robb rumman – both mean the same thing, a literal translation of what I’ve named it here. It tastes sweet and sour and rich and fruity all at once, almost like sweet tamarind if you’ve ever tasted that. I recommend trying some, once you buy a bottle you’ll be tempted to add it to salads and stir frys and all sorts, perhaps just dipping bread in it as it is… If you can’t find it you could substitute tamarind paste with a tablespoon or two of honey, or even use balsamic glaze.
Ingredients – serves 2
2 chicken breasts, skinless & boneless (or 4 thighs if you prefer)
3 tbsp pomegranate molasses (or tamarind paste plus 2 tbsp honey)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey or agave (optional – but makes a big difference)
Vegetables of choice to roast – onions, carrors, whole sweet potatoes…
1. Place the chicken in a large ovenproof dish and sprinkle on each of the seasonings in turn (order doesn’t really matter as long as you try to coat it all evenly)
2. Arrange the veggies around the outside
3. Bake in the oven at 220 degrees C for 50 minutes, then remove from the oven. Baste the chicken with the juices that have run out, and allow to sit for a few minutes.
4. Serve with roast veggies and salad of choice
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