Have you ever caramelized oranges? It’s one of my favorite ways to cook with citrus. When drizzled in quality olive oil and roasted just right, their sweet flavor deepens beautifully and intensifies. A dark sticky-sweetness cloaks the fruit and enhances the flavor profile of the entire dish.
Blood oranges are among my favorite for their dark crimson flesh and tangy sweetness. However, don’t mistake this for an orange-y flavored dish. Rather, when paired with roasted chicken, Italian olives, red onions and the heat from dried chile peppers, this Spicy Blood Orange Chicken makes for a savory and robust weeknight dinner in just over 30 minutes.
What is a blood orange?
Blood oranges get their signature crimson color from a pigment called anthocyanin, which, interestingly, is not native to citrus fruits at all. Instead, it is found in red and blue food plants, like blueberries, cherries and purple cauliflower. There’s even a stroke of red across a portion of the orange’s peel, like the sweep from a painter’s brush. It is thought that a natural mutation occurred in Sicily sometime between the 17th and 18th centuries, creating this unique red-fleshed orange. So intriguing! Sometimes it is the story and history that makes me love a food most of all.
A little bit sweet, a little bit savory
I adapted this dish from a Food Network recipe, tossing in red onions, blood orange wedges, black oil-cured olives as well as Castelvetrano olives and dried chile peppers. You can use Calabrian dried peppers or substitute with chiles de arbol – the latter might be easier to find in the ethnic aisle of your local market. The chicken nestles on top and everything gets drizzled in quality olive oil, a good squeeze from a whole blood orange, and roasts together for 30 minutes.
Why Chicken Thighs?
As my children often say “Guess what? Chicken butt! Guess why? Chicken thigh!” I’ll admit, I don’t get it. I didn’t get it when I heard it in the schoolyard as a child myself. However, one thing I do know is that chicken thighs are higher in fat than chicken breasts. I’m referring to the good fat! Monounsaturated fat. You know, the one that will help to lower the bad LDL cholesterol and raise the good HDL.
Need more good reasons to consider chicken thighs? They have skin that crisps-up just perfectly, their meat is always juicy, their bones offer flavor and medicinal value to homemade stocks and broth, they’re almost impossible to overcook, and they’re cost-effective too. Per pound, they’re one-third less expensive than boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Hooray for dinner!
Side note: If your children ever start on a marathon of “Guess what?… Guess why?…” eagerly recite all of the above benefits of chicken thighs. They’ll stop. In fact, they’ll likely walk away before you can even finish. You’re welcome.
So, when opportunity knocks and offers you a Spicy Blood Orange Chicken recipe, take it. Guess why? Chicken thigh!
Serving Options
While this dish is just fine as-is, I lean toward serving it with rice. It’s a great companion to all the roasted goodies, and the pan juices absorb into the rice just perfectly. I like to add roasted red peppers to the rice too, if I have them, just to add a little something-something. Other serving options include roasted or mashed potatoes, quinoa or lightly buttered egg noodles, so good! In warmer weather, consider serving with a crisp salad and a handful of goat cheese.
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Ingredients
- 2 red onions, cut into wedges
- 1/3 cup pitted oil-cured black olives
- 1/3 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives
- 10 small dried chile peppers, Calabrian, or chiles de arbol, broken in half
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 blood oranges
- 8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 500 F (260 C).
- On a rimmed baking sheet, spread out the onions, olives, chiles and bay leaves. Cut one orange into wedges and add it to the baking sheet.
- Arrange the chicken thighs on top of the ingredients, skin side up. Drizzle olive oil over the ingredients as evenly as possible. Use a baking or pastry brush, or a clean finger, and rub the oil over the skin of the chicken. Cut the remaining orange in half and squeeze the juice over the ingredients as evenly as possible. Season evenly with salt and a few generous turns of fresh cracked black pepper.
- Roast until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp and golden and the pan ingredients are caramelized, about 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. If desired, discard the chile peppers too, as they will have flavored the pan well and their seeds will be in the pan juices. Otherwise, keep them and serve the crisp chile peppers alongside the chicken. Serve with the onions, olives, orange wedges and the pan juices.
Notes
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