Those that have eaten in my kitchen are always complimentary of my highlighting of simple and approachable ingredients, making them the stars of the dish. Especially the case when they involve vegetables picked by me the same day, or those coming from the incredible farmers who prep their harvest the morning of a local farmers market. The farmers market used to be all about “the farmers” as the name states, but they have evolved to include local artisan bakers, crafters, salsa and hummus makers, butchers, and the list goes on. What they all have in common is that they’re local small businesses using a community platform to grow their business, and they rely heavily on the attendees of the weekly farmers market for survival. I can’t stress enough the importance that the community plays in allowing these businesses to grow, and even stay afloat. I often hear complaints about the higher prices these vendors charge, but being unable to produce on a large scale, their operating costs are higher. They’re not charging more because they want to, they’re charging more because they have to. With that being said, the quality of product is superior to anything you’ll find at your local grocery store and you really do get what you pay for. Shop local and support local! Without them, you wouldn’t have your weekly farmers market!
My local farmers market here in Gilbert, Arizona, usually has about 5 different farms supplying their produce. I won’t say I have a favorite as they all have some really great produce and I buy from each from time to time, however the folks over at Steadfast Farm by far offer the best microgreens and shoots, and attending the market without coming home with at least 1 package of them is doing myself a disservice. It’s the microgreens that reel me in, but finding some beautiful radishes and baby carrots at their booth is not uncommon. This recipe came together inspired by the fresh produce from their tent at the Gilbert farmers market this past weekend.
This is a simple roasted chicken thigh, roasted veggies and tzatziki sauce recipe. This is easy, but it’s also beautiful, and it’s also fresh, and it definitely highlights each ingredient without masking them in a heavy sauce or a thick coat of glaze. It won’t carry the “char” flavor that a grill will lend to it and it’s not coated in heavy seasoning. There is no hiding here. This is right in front of you, fresh and delicate, allowing the ingredients to shine as they were meant to be and hitting you in the face with it. For those that are hesitant to jump into “fancy cooking”, consider this your gateway dish. It looks fancy as fuck and should impress anyone, because the ingredients will do the talking! If you prep everything ahead of time, assembly is easy and you can plate quickly. Now go be a fancy chef and make this!
Harissa Roasted Chicken Thighs, with Roasted Veggies and Tzatziki with Red Hatch Chile “Relish”
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade
- 5-6 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on trim excess skin and fat, but leave most of the skin to crisp in the final stages of roasting. crispy chicken skin is incredibly delicious, especially after sitting in this marinade.
- 2 tbsp harissa red pepper paste found in most grocery stores in the international aisle. you can substitute another red pepper paste if you'd like, such as Gochujang, although Harissa works best for this recipe with the tzatziki.
- 1 juice of one lemon
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp ras el hanout Recipe can be found here – Ras El Hanout; A Staple of North African Cooking – Nomad, By Food (nomadbyfood.com)
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For the roasted veggies
- 1 pound baby carrots scrubbed, tops removed and halved if larger than baby
- 1 pound Easter egg radishes scrubbed, tops removed and halved
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to coat
Red hatch chile "relish"
- 1 pound red hatch chiles Make this ahead of time. I had a small jar of it I had been using on literally everything for the days prior to making this chicken. If you cannot find these, substitute any other pepper to your liking. A regular hatch if available, or even a poblano or Anaheim. You don't need a ton of heat as you'll get it from the harissa, but this relish is so good that you'll use it on everything until it runs out.
Tzatziki Sauce
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 1/2 cucumber peeled and grated into the yogurt
- 1 lime, juiced use the juice of 1 lime
- 1 garlic glove minced or pressed via a garlic press
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
For the chicken
- In a gallon Ziploc or other plastic food storage bag, combine the chicken with the remaining marinade ingredients, and massage until well combined and the chicken is coated. Place the bag into a bowl (in case the bag rips you'll spare yourself the cleanup later), and pop it into your fridge for at least 6 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take the chicken out of the marinade and place into a baking dish. Pour any marinade left in the bag over the chicken, before placing in the oven and roasting for 35 minutes.,
- After the 35 minute roast is complete (at which time you would also remove the veggies in the rest of the recipe below), turn the oven to broil, and allow the skin of the chicken to crisp up and char a little bit. Be careful to pay close attention to the chicken at this point as you don't want to burn or blacken the skin all over. Once crispy, remove the chicken from the oven and begin plating.
Roasted Veggies
- You can substitute any roasted veggie here, don't feel obliged to use baby carrots and Easter egg radishes. They were what looked the best and called my name at the farmers market this weekend, and they were both great options. You can substitute for any radish, or any type of carrot, asparagus, broccoli, turnips – whatever veggies look the best during your veggie hunt!
- Regardless of what veggie you choose to go with, clean them, and cut them down to size so they roast well in the 20 minute roasting timeframe. I sliced my radishes in half and left the baby carrots whole as they were the perfect size. Remove any green tops if using root vegetables and place into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle in a healthy amount of olive oil (enough to coat the veggies well) and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Combine by mixing up them up with a large spoon, and then dump the veggies into a baking dish or tray. Place them into the 400 degree oven with the chicken already in it, and roast for 20 minutes. Remove the veggies prior to bumping the oven up to a broil. If you want to time everything right, place the veggies into the over 15 minutes after you place the chicken in the oven, and when you go to bump the temperature to broil, just remove the finished veggies.
Red Hatch Chile "Relish"
- This should be made well ahead of time. It's one ingredient, and can be used not only in this dish, but on burgers, fish, sandwiches, on a charcuterie board…..the uses are endless. Make a batch of this, and then use it here, and everywhere else. If you cannot find red hatch chiles, no sweat, go ahead and substitute a regular hatch, or even a poblano or Anaheim pepper.
- Place the peppers on a heated grill or into an oven set to broil. Either grill or broil until the skins have blackened, turning occasionally. Once the skins are blackened and starting to pop, remove the peppers, and place them into a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the peppers to cool. Once cool enough to handle, remove the skins, stems and seeds from the peppers, and mince the peppers up until they resemble a "relish". That's literally it.
For Tzatziki Sauce
- Place the yogurt into a large bowl, and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well until combined.
Notes
- chile pepper “relish” should be made ahead of time.
- once you place the chicken into the oven, set your timer for 35 minutes. Go ahead and prep the veggies, covering them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and placing them into a baking dish. Once the timer gets down to 20 minutes, just pop your veggies into the oven as well. once the timer is expired, just remove the veggies and keep the chicken in the oven, turning on the broiler to crisp up the chicken skin.
- once the chicken and veggies are both in the oven, go ahead and make the tzatziki. It’ll take you less than 5 minutes to make and you’ll have the time once everything is in the oven.
- You can have the plates ready to go so that once the chicken is done, you can just transfer it to the plate that’s already prepped with everything else. Plop down some tzatziki, a few of each of the veggies, a spoonful of chile “relish” and top it with the chicken. I added some fresh microgreens and pomegranate seeds to the final plate for color and for texture.
