Roasted Chicken With Potatoes, Arugula, and Garlic Yogurt

The New York Times has fabulous cooking archives, with a wide variety of recipes. This one caught my eye, as it’s really a full meal baked on a sheet pan with ingredients I love. When I saw that it had earned a five star rating with over 1000 people sending comments, I couldn’t get to the market fast enough.

Such a great and unusual combination of flavors; hot sauce and cumin livening up the chicken and potatoes, and garlic, dill and lemon spiking the yogurt sauce. The reason they specify not using Greek yogurt is that it’s too thick; although if that’s what you have, just thin it with a little milk. If you make the yogurt sauce ahead (and it is key to the recipe so don’t skip it!) bring it to room temperature at serving time. I LOVED this dish and it’s uniqueness will make you start thinking about who you will want to share it with!

The 1 1/2 pounds of chicken worked out for me to be 4 large bone-in skin on thighs. If I were serving more than 3 people I might want to use two pans and double this. I used sriracha sauce and one generous tablespoonful was enough I felt to give this a nice understated heat.

1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs and drumsticks

1 1/4 pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes, halved and cut into 1/2 inch slices

2 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt, more as needed

1/2 tsp. black pepper, more as needed

2 Tbs. harissa (or use another thick hot sauce, such as sriracha)

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

4 1/2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed

2 leeks, white and green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

1/3 cup plain yogurt (do not use Greek yogurt)

1 small garlic clove

2 ounces baby arugula

chopped fresh dill, as needed

lemon juice,as needed

Combine chicken and potatoes in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together harissa, cumit and 3 Tbs. oil. Pour over chicken and potatoes and toss to combine. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine leeks, lemon zest, a pinch of salt and the remaining 1 1/2 Tbs. oil.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange chicken and potatoes on a large rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Roast 15 minutes. Toss potatoes lightly. Scatter leeks over pan. Roast until chicken and potatoes are cooked through and everything is golden and slightly crisped, 25 to 30 minutes longer.

While chicken cooks, place yogurt in a small bowl. Grate garlic over yogurt and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon yogurt over chicken and vegetables in the pan. Scatter arugula and dill over mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and serve.
Note: Some felt the leeks were too crispy, so I would suggest tossing the potatoes and adding the leeks after 20 minutes instead of 15. I am using the NY Times photo as I served mine on a bed of the arugula to wilt it, and this picture is gorgeous!