Dinner Tonight: Chicken and Fennel with Honey, Mustard, and Orange
5/27/2014da0924c3-0898-41a3-a742-99f5bce0973b
“An easy midweek dish,” writes Diana Henry in A Change of Appetite. “Toss it all in the oven and let the heat do its work.”
Chicken and Fennel with Honey, Mustard, and Orange
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- Finely grated zest of ½ orange
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 chicken thighs, skin removed or not, as you prefer
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 6 sprigs of thyme
- 3 fennel bulbs
Preheat the oven to 400F. Mix the orange juice, zest, honey, mustard, and oil. Put the chicken in a shallow oven proof dish in which both chicken and fennel can lie together in a single layer. Pour two-thirds of the orange mixture over the chicken, sprinkle with salt, and sprinkle with the thyme. Bake for 15 minutes.
Trim the tips of the fennel bulbs, retaining any feathery leaves, and remove the tough outer leaves. Quarter the bulbs and remove the core (don’t take away too much, or the wedges will fall apart).
Take the chicken out of the oven, baste it with its juices, then tuck in the fennel and spoon the rest of the orange mixture over. Season, return to the oven, and cook for 30 minutes, basting every so often. The chicken should be dark gold and cooked through and the fennel tender and glazed. Serve with rice pilaf.
Yield: 4 servings.
Source: Diana Henry’s A Change of Appetite: Where Healthy Meets Delicious.
Have a recipe that is fast and healthy? Send it to food@theblade or Dinner Tonight, The Blade, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660.