Lemon Chicken with Rice Pilaf and Apraragus

I've been on a cooking binge lately and when I saw this recipe I was a little hesitant, I'm not a chicken thigh fan. However, the recipe called for 12 lemons and I have more lemons then I can use right now. I'm not complaining, being a Missouri girl I still marvel at having my own citrus trees. As you can probably guess since I'm putting the recipe on my blog, it was amazing!! I cut the recipe in half and it worked out fine. It's not necessarily a low calorie recipe due to the fat content in a chicken thigh, I guesstimated about 800 calories for the meal, but the ingredients are all healthy.

Lemon Chicken with Rice Pilaf and Asparagus

12 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on (free range if possible)

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cup lemon juice (about 12 lemons)

2 Tbl. red wine vinegar

8 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes (I doubled this)

2 Tbl. dried oregano

1/4 cup fresh parsley (optional) *

1. Preheat oven to 425. Rinse chicken thighs and pat dry. Place thighs skin side up in an oiled baking dish, sprinkling the thighs with salt and pepper. Bake for 35 minutes.

2. While chicken is baking whisk the olive oil slowly into the lemon juice, I used my braun hand blender to create an emulsion. Add vinegar, garlic, red pepper, oregano, and parsley; whisk well.

3. Remove chicken after 35 minutes and drain fat from pan. Pour the lemon sauce over the chicken and return to oven for another 15 minutes. 

4. I served this with Near East rice pilaf (follow the directions on the box) and I put the asparagus on the grill, brushing them with a mixture of lemon/olive oil/pepper/garlic, this has become our favorite way to eat asparagus. I put the rice on the plate first, then the chicken on the rice (I had some caramelized onions in the fridge so I added them to the rice and chicken) then poured some lemon sauce over the whole thing. To my surprise, the chicken thighs were delicious! 

*Parsley is not my favorite, but it is a great source of vitamin C and K. Here is a link outlining the other benefits of parsley: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=100