Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman

I looked for this book on Amazon and it is only available as a hard cover or spiral-bound book. I only buy ebooks now as I just don’t have space for any more physical books, and it suits me better to have my cookbooks on my ipad which is nice and handy for me. For this reason, I have not bought this book, however, if it was available as an ebook, I would buy it as I really like the recipes I found on Alison Roman’s website.

There was a lot of choice of recipes available on the website and I looked for a chicken recipe. My husband and younger son both have health issues and so we are trying to reduce our red meat intake. There were a few chicken recipes that caught my eye and that I will probably make in the future including a classic chicken pot pie, spicy fried chicken, two chicken soup recipes, and two chicken salad recipes. The one I tested out for this post was skillet chicken with white beans and caramelized lemon. This dish was a great hit with my family, even my father who is quite critical about food.

Skillet chicken with white beans and caramelized lemon

Recipe

1.8 kilograms bone-in chicken thighs with skin (original recipe called for 2 ½ pounds bone-in, skin on chicken thighs or breasts)

2 small lemons thinly sliced (original recipe called for 1 lemon thinly sliced with the seeds removed – I didn’t bother to remove the seeds)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 red onions, peeled and cut into thin slices (original recipe used 1 shallot, peeled and cut into wedges)

250 grams white beans soaked over night and doubled boiled with salt for 5 hours (original recipe used 1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed)

Olive oil for cooking (original recipe used canola oil)

300 grams baby spinach leaves (original recipe used 1 bunch of kale)

Method

Toss the lemon slices and the red onion together in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to marinade. 

Season the chicken pieces lightly with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat (I used a stove top wok) and add the chicken, skin side down. Fry for 5 to 8 minutes on each side until the skin is crispy and brown and the chicken cooked.

Remove the chicken from the pan and add the lemon and onion mixture, allowing them to sizzle in the chicken fat. Cook for approximately 5 minutes until the lemon has started to caramelize and brown. 

Add the cooked beans to the pan and cook for a few minutes until the beans are slightly brown and any remaining liquid in the pan has been absorbed. 

Add the baby spinach to the pan in batches, cooking for a few minutes until it has wilted. Add the chicken back to the pan. 

Serve as is or with rice.

Thank you Robbie, for going to such great lengths to write this review. I hope everyone will take the time to visit Robbie’s blog at http://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com. You will be delighted to discover Robbie’s multifaceted writing in addition to her talent as a baker and a cook.