Orange Miso Chicken

I love it when I find a recipe, make the recipe, bite into the meal made from that recipe and think "Oh. My. Good. god. "  That is this recipe. Just to be sure, I have made it on several occasions. Just to be sure. Each time I elicit the exact same response: Mmmmm umami.  My mouth waters every time I think about this meal.  In my very humble opinion miso is one of the star ingredients here. I love it with veggies, I love it with salmon, I love it with chicken....it's the main attraction in so many of my meals lately (look at me go and be all cool and exotic as if I was young and hip!...which I am not.)

The recipe that is posted here is the original. But me being me went rogue and changed it up a bit just to be different. I had a whole chicken in the freezer begging to be cooked before any freezer burn set in (darn chest-type freezer where things get lost and forgotten never to be heard from again) so I roasted the chicken first following a Jamie Oliver recipe (it hasn't failed me yet- it truly is perfect.) I mixed up the miso dressing and added it after the chicken was cooked. The first time I prepared the recipe I did not have fresh tarragon so I improvised with dried. I splurged the second time and bought fresh. SO MUCH BETTER WITH FRESH (no big surprise there) so go with fresh if you can if you love a big licorice flavour (which I do....mmmm licorice pipes from Becker's.) I also have added in a few more veggies each time I've made it: mushrooms, mini potatoes, what-have-you, whatever is in season and bountiful. Delicious! Be creative. Honestly the most important thing here is the orange miso dressing.  It's absolutely fabulous and if I could put it on everything I would.  And I'm not even stretching the truth much like I usually do (oops, did I use my outside voice there?) Go forth and make this recipe. It's been added to the regular rotation of Bistro 164 recipes: Gold Star Recipe for sure.  Do your taste buds a "flavour favour" and give it a go.

Happy Umami from Bistro 164!

Orange Miso Glazed Chicken with Carrots & Leeks

from Clean Eating

Ingredients

Olive oil
5 carrots, peeled, and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
5 leeks, halved, cut lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp ground ginger, divided
1 tsp dried thyme, divided
1 tsp freshly ground pepper, divided
1/4 tsp sea salt, divided
8 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin removed

For the Miso Glaze:

3 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp Sriracha or other hot sauce
2 tbsp fresh chopped tarragon

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 F and mist a large rimmed baking sheet, or casserole dish, or dutch oven with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, add carrots, leeks, and half of the following: oil, ginger, thyme, pepper and salt. Mix to coat. Spread in a single layer on the prepared cooking vesicle.  To the same large bowl, add the chicken and the other half of the oil, ginger, thyme, salt and pepper. Mix and place the chicken over the veggies.

Preheat the oven to 425 F and mist a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Roast on the centre oven rack for about 20 minutes. Turn the chicken and gently stir the veggies. Continue roasting until the juices of the chicken run clear and the temperature reaches 165 F in the thickest part of the chicken, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

While the veggies and chicken are cooking, make up your miso sauce: combine the o.j., miso, honey, and Sriracha. Pour over the cooked chicken and veggies and gently stir. Divide up onto plates and sprinkle with fresh tarragon.