Clementine Honey Roast Chicken

April 10, 2020

Servings: 4

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 1 hr

Total: 1 hr 10 min

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A bright, festive whole chicken preparation. You can also roast a cut-up chicken, just adjust the cook time.

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 1 3-4 lb chicken
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP honey
• 1 TSBP kosher salt
• 1 TSP fresh cracked pepper
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 4 clementines, quartered
• 2 lemons, quartered
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 large sweet onion (or red onion would work well) sliced into eighths
• 1 cup white wine (or chicken stock)
• 1 handful of fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and pat your chicken dry. Remove giblets from the chicken cavity. Season the chicken all over with kosher salt, including inside the cavity.
• Step 2 Place 1/4 onion, 1/4 clementine, and a handful of herbs in cavity of chicken.
• Step 3 Drizzle a large roasting pan or cast iron skillet with olive oil. Place chicken breast side up in the pan. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil, honey and sprinkle with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.
• Step 4 Evenly spread remaining clementines, lemon, onion and garlic cloves around chicken. Scatter with remaining thyme and rosemary sprigs and sprinkle with salt. Pour wine around side of pan and place in oven. Roast on high heat for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
• Step 5 Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to cook for 35-45 minutes. Check internal temperature by placing a meat thermometer into thickest part of thigh, not touching bone. Chicken is done with a read of 165 degree temperature.
• Step 6 Take chicken out of oven, tent with foil and let rest for 20 minutes. Squeeze lemon and clementine juice over chicken and carve. Serve pan juices with chicken.

Confession: I kind of hit a wall today with my kids. In less than a week, my 3-year old has become a full blown threenager and it just totally put me over the edge. For the first time during this quarantine (which will mark a month as of Monday) I pretty much lost it. I say “pretty much” because if I had really lost it, I would be halfway to California right now, but I managed to calm down enough to put them (well, force them) down for a nap, pour myself another cup of coffee, and decided to channel my frustration into focusing on this recipe instead.

This was last night’s second seder meal. After going ALL out for seder #1 (see here), I really wanted to take it “easy” last night. We still ate it in the dining room, because that was such a nice change of scenery. And we still attempted to hold a virtual seder, even though the kids lasted all of 20 minutes. But the meal itself was much simpler and I welcomed that! We didn’t use the wedding china or good silver or cloth napkins, but we lit the candles, said the prayers, and it still felt special. And it tasted pretty special too!

I started with a whole chicken but the rest of the menu was a blank slate. But since much of my cooking these days is inspired by 1. the ingredients we have on hand and 2. using them in order of when they will go bad, finding a creative use for all of our clementines was tops on my list. So I reimagined a citrus chicken recipe I saw with oranges, used clementines instead and added a touch of honey. With minimal effort and minimal mess, it came out SO nicely. Adding my dairy free creamed spinach (something I’d been meaning to post for ages!) was also a no brainer. All of the elements of this dish play a big role in making it so delicious. The tangy citrus flavors are bold, but the honey adds a nice mellow sweetness. The roasted onions are rich and creamy. And the spinach is so finger-licking good; no doubt, you’ll be wiping your plate clean!