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Rosemary Roasted Chicken on top of Ciabatta Bread served with a Warm Chickpea and Spinach Salad

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Once again, I got my inspiration from my favorite good looking chef, Jamie Oliver. I was watching his show about salads and he made a fabulous caesar salad with homemade roasted chicken and croutons. The chicken legs attached to thighs were roasted with rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper. He tore a baguette into pieces and added them with the chicken and roasted the whole thing. His idea was to flavor the bread pieces with the chicken juices and use them as croutons in the salad- how brilliant it that? I decided to make a similar dish but used a ciabatta bread- sliced it and placed it at the bottom of the roast pan. I then placed the chicken pieces and rubbed a mixture of rosemary, salt, olive oil and pepper. I wanted to serve the chicken and bread as the main dish. I loved the idea of using full chicken legs- they are so much more flavorful than chicken breast; they are more forgiving in terms of cooking time; and most of all, they are a lot more reasonable than chicken breast. I am a big fan of dark meat chicken- my husband on the other hand, is a big skeptic. He enjoyed this dish but I could tell, he would have preferred white meat chicken. If you feel the same, go ahead and switch it for the breast pieces- I would get the bone-in pieces and would keep a good eye on the oven careful not to over cook. The roasted chicken pieces were juicy, flavorful and tender. The bread was amazingly delicious. We spread the sweet, soft, gooey roasted garlic cloves on top of the bread slices- it was out of this world. It had absorbed all the chicken goodness. We ate it with a warm chickpea salad and yes- my favorite- Malbec Rose.

I was itching to use anchovies in something. My husband thinks he doesn’t like them, but like a lot of people, he doesn’t realize that anchovies take on a very nutty and salty flavor when used in either a salad or a sauce. It adds an underlying flavor to the dish that is quite complex and hard to decipher. I decided to make a chickpea salad. I had a bag of baby spinach sitting in my fridge screaming to be used, so I paired it with the chickpeas. I sliced some shallots and melted 2 anchovy fillets with olive oil. I then added the canned chickpeas and baby spinach. Somehow using raw cumin didn’t seem right- I used roasted cumin instead. I always have it in my spice cabinet. It’s as simple as roasting nuts- either in a heavy frying pan or in the oven, till it is aromatic and dark brown. The roasted cumin has a very aromatic flavor- milder than raw cumin- almost more sophisticated. Well, all the flavors went really well together- it was a successful try and I will definitely make it again!

  • 8 pieces of drumstick with thighs attached
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 head garlic, washed and broken into pieces, unpeeled
  • 1 load ciabatta bread, sliced into 1 inch slices

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large oven proof dish, place the bread slices covering the entire surface. Place the chicken pieces on top of the slices and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and rub it all over the pieces. Add the garlic. Bake for about 50 minutes to an hour until the chicken is golden brown and perfectly cooked. The bread below should be golden brown and full of the chicken juices. Serve the chicken with a side of baked bread. The garlic can be squeezed out and spread on top of the bread.

Warm Chickpea and Spinach Salad

warm-chickpeas-and-spinach-salad

  • 1 15 oz can of chickpeas
  • 1 large or 2 medium shallots, sliced thin
  • 2 anchovy fillets
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon roasted cumin seeds
  • 1 6 oz bag of baby spinach
  • Salt

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the anchovy fillets. Cook for a minute till the anchovies begin to melt. Add the shallots and cook for a 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Add the chickpeas and cumin seeds. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the baby spinach and cook till it is wilted down, about 6-7 minutes. Check for seasonings. Add salt if needed.

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