Sticky orange chicken with parsnips, maple & pecans

2 of 5-a-day 2 servings 800 kcal or less fibre folate mains one-pot chicken over an hour roast chicken vitamin c winter

N/A

Source

Ingredients

2 blood oranges , 1 juiced, 1 thickly sliced

3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

1 tbsp cranberry or redcurrant jelly , melted

2 parsnips , quartered, peeled and the core cut out and discarded

4 chicken thighs , skin on

140g small shallots , left whole but peeled

2 thyme sprigs , broken up a bit

25g pecans , barely chopped

mixed leaf salad or wilted spinach, to serve (optional)

cooked rice , to serve (optional)

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Juice 1 of the oranges and whisk together with the maple syrup, olive oil, vinegar, mustard and cranberry jelly. Cut the parsnips into chunky lengths. Put the parnips, chicken thighs and shallots in a roasting tin – make sure everything can sit in a single layer but quite snug. Drizzle over half the orange sauce with some seasoning and toss to coat everything. Roast for 35 mins.

Remove the tin from the oven and poke the orange slices in among everything. Scatter over the thyme and drizzle over the rest of the orange sauce. Roast for another 15 mins until the chicken is tender and cooked through, and everything is sticky and golden. Mix in the pecans and cook for another 5 mins. Serve straight away, remembering to scrape out all the sticky juices from the tin, and eat with a mixed leaf salad or some wilted spinach, plus a little rice to soak up the sauce, if you like.