Coriander Chicken with Chickpeas & Kale

Before Pinterest, I used to collect Rachael Ray cookbooks and subscribe to Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine to get dinner inspiration.  I should get a subscription again – even though I have thousands of recipes saved online, I still really enjoy flipping through pages of something I can hold. 

I bought the October issue the other day because I wanted to try out the “Express Lane Suppers.” It outlined 3 easy recipes that could be made with just a 10 ingredient shopping list (it excludes basics you should already have at home like garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper).

We made one of the recipes for dinner tonight and it was amazing!  It took just over 30 minutes and turned out to be a pretty impressive dish.  We have ingredients for the other two dishes as well, so I'll post those later this week when we try them out.

Coriander Chicken with Chickpeas & Kale (adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine, October 2014 issue)

Ingredients:

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1½ pounds)
• 1¼ tsp ground coriander
• 1 T olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 2 cans (15 oz. each) chickpeas, rinsed (aka garbanzo beans)
• 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• Zest and juice of one small orange
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ large bunch curly-leaf kale, stemmed and chopped   
• Salt
• Pepper
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a bowl, mix 1 tsp of the coriander, ¾ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper; rub all over the chicken.

3. In a cast iron or ovenproof skillet, heat 1 T olive oil on the stovetop over medium heat.  Cook the chicken, skin side down, until browned, about 8 minutes. Turn and cook 8 more minutes.

4. Transfer the chicken to a plate.  Pour off all but 2 T fat from the skillet.

5. In the same skillet, cook the chickpeas, stock, orange juice, garlic, half the orange zest, and the remaining ¼ tsp coriander over medium heat, stirring, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Nestle the chicken, skin side up, in the chickpeas.  Roast in the oven until juices run clear when pierced with a knife, about 8 minutes.

7. Transfer the chicken to a plate again.  Toss the kale in with the chickpeas and return to the oven for 2 minutes until kale starts to cook down slightly. 

8. Return the chicken to the skillet again, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the rest of the orange zest.